|
|
 |
Wayne White/Herald-Chronicle
Wayne White | Managing Editor
OSAGE CITY—A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter was called to
Osage City in the early morning hours of Sept. 29 to help search
for three people suspected of running over mailboxes.
Arrested in the case were John Hull, 21, Carbondale, Charlene Gibbs,
19, Carbondale, and Robert Green, 21, Lyndon.
According to Osage City Police Chief Fred Nech, a report of a vehicle
running over mailboxes around the area of 13th and Brant streets
was received about 2:30 a.m. A caller said the vehicle, a gold Chevrolet
Cavalier, was stuck in a ditch. An Osage City police officer encountered
the vehicle as it was driving away from the ditch and he attempted
to stop it. When the vehicle stopped, three individuals ran away,
with two going south to a nearby wooded area and the third running
north.
Police then searched the area on foot and called for assistance
from area police departments and the Osage County Sheriff’s
Office. Due to the heavy brush in the area where two suspects were
believed to be located, a KHP helicopter was requested to search
the area with infrared equipment. Officers secured the perimeter
of the wooded area.
“Unfortunately, the helicopter could not locate anyone because
of the dense foliage,” Nech said.
Officers then crawled through the brush and found Hull, Nech said.
While the search was ongoing, police were called to Dogwood Glen
Apartments, where a female was reported pounding on an apartment
door. Gibbs was located there and arrested her.
“We didn’t find the third subject that night,”
Nech said. “The next day we got a tip that he was at Dogwood
Glen Apartments.”
He said officers found and arrested Green at the apartments.
Nech said nine mailboxes in the area were run over in the incident
with estimated damage exceeding $500. He said the vehicle, which
was registered to the parents of one of the suspects, was also damaged.
Nech said in addition to the sheriff’s office and KHP, assistance
was provided during the search by Overbrook, Lyndon and Burlingame
police.
Hull was arrested on complaints of criminal damage to property,
obstruction of an officer, transporting an open container, furnishing
alcohol to a minor, and leaving the scene of an accident. Green
was arrested on identical complaints.
Gibbs was arrested for criminal damage to property, obstruction,
minor in possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing,
and leaving the scene of an accident.
All three were taken to the Osage County Jail and have since been
released on $2,500 bond each.
Nech said formal charges were pending and the cases had been turned
over to Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones. Jones said Tuesday
that he was referring the cases back to Osage City Municipal Court
because “they are all misdemeanors that occurred within the
city limits.”
Nech said his department had also received a report Sept. 13 that
someone in a gold vehicle was “bashing” mailboxes with
an object in the northeast part of Osage City. In that incident,
approximately 20 mailboxes were damaged and a piece of pipe was
found on the street, but no suspects have been identified. Nech
said that case remains under investigation. |
|
|
|
