Lightning Strike Causes Small Grass Fire And Home To Catch Fire
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department responded to a fire late last evening due to a lightning strike. That fire was reported at about 12:37 a.m. at 240th Street and Nature Avenue. Apparently, the lightning hit an utility pole, causing the pole to break off and start a small grass fire.
The lightning strike followed the phone line into the home, scorching the wall, and melting the phone, and burned up the computer modem. Fire Chief Dave Schipper says an electrician was called to the scene since the lightning strike took out the power for the home. Fire Chief Dave Schipper says within the past week, the Le Mars Fire and Resuce Department responded
to 22 calls from Saturday, April 21st to Monday morning, April 30th.
Sioux City Man Accused Of Shooting Father
(Sioux City) — A Sioux City man is facing charges after a Sunday night shooting that police say stemmed from a family dispute. Police were dispatched to 2732 Cheyenne Blvd. at 10:30 p.m. for shots fired and a disturbance. Investigators say 23-year old Gabriel Navarro had been in a dispute with his father in the home and allegedly shot a gun at him. The shot missed, but the father received cuts to his face during the struggle. Navarro was booked into the Woodbury County jail for aggravated domestic assault, and reckless use of a firearm. He’s being held in jail on a $10,000 bond.
Woman Pleas Not Guilty To Fatal Stabbing
(Sioux City) — A Dakota City, Nebraska woman charged with First Degree Murder in the April 8th fatal stabbing of a Sioux City woman has pleaded not guilty in the case. A written plea was filed by the attorney representing 20-year old Melissa Camargo-Flores. Carmargo-Flores is charged with the murder of 24-year old Kenia Alvarez-Flores outside the victim’s home in the 1200 block of West 14th Street. Court documents indicate Camargo-Flores admitted to police that she was involved in a relationship with the victim’s boyfriend, and waited outside the victim’s home for 20 minutes waiting for her to come outside before the alleged assault. Camargo-Flores remains in Woodbury County Jail on a $500-thousand dollars bond.
Ottumwa Woman Accused From Stealing From Dependent Adults
OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) – An Ottumwa woman accused of stealing from dependent adults has pleaded not guilty.
Court records say 42-year-old Malia Ollom entered the pleas last week to 22 counts that included allegations of forgery, theft and dependent adult abuse. Her next court hearing is scheduled for Friday.
Authorities say Ollom worked for Crest Services and was responsible for managing the finances of adults under her supervision. Police were contacted Jan. 11 about irregularities that occurred in the clients’ accounts between May last year and January.
Authorities say that among the incidents, Ollom fraudulently obtained and used a credit card using information from one of her clients and stole more than $5,700 from another by forging the victim’s name on checks.
Iowa State Trooper Shoots At Man
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities are investigating what led to a fatal exchange of gunfire between an Iowa State Trooper and a man along a rural road west of Fort Dodge.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says a state trooper found a man and woman arguing near a vehicle near Moorland, Iowa, on Sunday. The man pointed a handgun at the trooper and the two exchanged gunfire, killing the man.
The identity of the man wasn’t immediately released Sunday.
Authorities say the man had fired several shots into his own vehicle before the trooper arrived.
Cedar Rapids Woman Dies From Fire
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Officials say a woman died after a police officer helped pull her from a burning garage in Cedar Rapids.
Firefighters and police were sent to the residence around 7:35 Sunday morning after neighbors reported hearing a loud boom and saw flames in the detached garage.
The officer helped pull her from the garage, and medics tended to her. Police say she was pronounced dead later at a hospital.
The woman’s name hasn’t been released. Authorities say the fire and the woman’s death are considered suspicious and are being investigated.
School Superintendent Says He Allowed Sexual Offender To Volunteer At School
WELLMAN, Iowa (AP) – A superintendent who let a convicted sex offender volunteer at an eastern Iowa school district says he’ll resign if the school board doesn’t give him a vote of confidence.
Minutes of Saturday’s special Mid-Prairie school board meeting in
Wellman show Superintendent Mark Schneider apologized for dividing the community with his 2015 decision regarding volunteer Trent Yoder. Yoder had pleaded guilty to exploiting a minor at an Anita school by videotaping a high school athlete changing her clothes in 1998. He was removed from the sex
offender registry after 10 years.
Schneider told the board members he needed their votes of support at their May 14 meeting to resolve the Yoder issue and others.
Yoder also spoke Saturday and told the board he wouldn’t volunteer for any events for the remainder of the school year.
Mobile Home Owner Charged With Water Theft
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A Dubuque mobile home park owner accused of bypassing water meters to save thousands of dollars has been sentenced to two years of probation.
The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that Michael Friederick paid the city $110,000 in restitution before sentencing. He’d entered an Alford plea to a charge of theft. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a jury to reach a guilty verdict.
Friederick also was given a suspended jail sentence of 180 days.
Court records say city officials suspect Friederick opened a valve
that let water bypass meters into lines for his Table Mound Mobile Home Park.
The officials estimate more than 21.5 million gallons were taken.
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Des Moines Man To Serve Three Life Sentences For Killing Parents and Sister
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A central Iowa man has been given three life sentences after admitting in court that he fatally shot his parents and sister.
Twenty-two-year-old Chase Nicholson pleaded guilty Monday in Polk County District Court in Des Moines to killing 58-year-old Mark Nicholson 56-year- old Charla Nicholson and 24-year-old Tawni Nicholson.
Their bodies and the shotgun used to kill them were found in the family home in Bondurant on April 6 last year. Nicholson surrendered the next day in Neosho, Missouri.
He said at his court hearing that he had been hearing voices in his head that day telling him to shoot his parents and sister but not himself.
Chase Nicholson initially pleaded not guilty. His attorneys were
planning to use an insanity defense.
