Author: Iowa Radio News

ORAN, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man is facing charges after allegedly vandalizing cars Sunday in Oran in Fayette County. KWWL-TV reports 69-year-old Dennis Lee Weaver of Oelwein, was arrested and charged with Criminal Mischief, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Witnesses report he was slashing tires with an ice pick on Main Street.

DENISON, IA (IRN) – Two Denison residents were killed in the collisions of three vehicles near Denison in western Iowa. The crashes were reported around noon Sunday on Iowa Highway 39. The Iowa State Patrol says a northbound car crashed into a southbound pickup, and then both of those vehicles struck another northbound vehicle. 22-year-old Robbie McMullen and 19-year-old Emiliano Ramos are dead. Three others were hospitalized.

LE MARS, IA (IRN) – A northwest Iowa man has been accused of stabbing his sister to death.
WQAD-TV reports 33-year-old Thomas Bibler was arrested Saturday night after a short standoff at his Le Mars apartment. He’s accused of fatally stabbing 27-year-old Shannon Bogh at her Le Mars home. Authorities have not released information on what led up to the stabbing.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police in Des Moines are investigating the death of a baby they say was left inside a sweltering car while his father lingered in a barber shop. KCCI-TV reports 36-year-old Lance Williams Sr. returned to the car to find the boy dead. He is charged with child endangerment resulting in death. It was 91 degrees.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – An Adventureland employee died from injuries sustained while working on a ride at the amusement park. WHO-TV reports Steve Booher slipped and fell on the park’s “Raging River” ride on Tuesday. Park officials say Booher was helping assist riders in getting onto the raft. The ride remains open.

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO (IRN) – A Dubuque man drowned at the Lake of the Ozarks over the weekend. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports 51-year-old Andy Burgmeier was swimming after getting off a boat in Anderson Hollow Cove on Saturday. Burgmeier went under the water, and did not resurface. The highway patrol’s dive team later recovered his body using a sonar scan.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – An Iowa State student from Waukee has been crowned this year’s Miss Iowa. The Quad City-Times reports Kelly Koch was announced as the winner Saturday night in Davenport. Koch will now represent the state in the Miss America Pageant in September in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Koch entered the pageant as Miss Polk County. She was one of 17 women competing in the pageant.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A body was recovered from the Des Moines River Saturday night near Yellow Banks Park in Polk County, according to KCCI-TV. The body of an Asian man was recovered shortly after 9 p.m. and transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Officials are working to identify the man and the cause of death.

MONTOUR, IA (IRN) – A motorcyclist died in a Tama County crash near Montour Saturday.
The Iowa State Patrol reports 55-year-old Vincent Hamilton, of Belle Plaine, was driving east on Highway 30 when he lost control of his 2004 Harley Davidson on a curve and drove off the road. He died at the scene.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A 17-year-old girl is in the hospital after collapsing at the Cherry Hill Aquatic Center in Cedar Rapids. KCRG-TV reports it happened around 2 p.m. Friday on the deck of the aquatic center. The girl was unresponsive for a period of time, but became conscious after staff performed CPR. The event is being treated as a medical incident.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines restaurant is raising money to help fight cancer. WHO-TV reports Firebird’s Wood Fired Grill is raising money for the “Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.” The charity started when 4-year-old Alexandra Scott was diagnosed with cancer. She held a lemonade stand to help her family pay for medical bills. The restaurant has a yearly lemonade stand at each of their locations, and so far about $15,000 has been raised.

CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – A reported assault led to the discovery of marijuana plants in a Charles City home, according to KIMT-TV. Witnesses say on Thursday 31-year-old Carlos Cooper slapped and punched a woman. Officers say when they arrived, witnesses were holding Cooper back and the woman was seizing on the floor. Cooper was arrested for domestic abuse assault. Police say they also found four marijuana plants in the apartment. The woman’s condition is unknown.

ANKENY, IA (IRN) – A drunken driver caused a deadly collision and a massive tie-up Friday on Interstate 35 near Ankeny, according to KCCI-TV. Police say 45-year-old William Phipps struck a 2010 Subaru driven by Zachary McMahon, who was transported to a nearby hospital. The passenger, Alexander Koch, died. Phipps faces charges of vehicular homicide, OWI third offense, driving while barred, and leaving the scene of an accident.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Two Dubuque police officers were assaulted by a Dubuque man while arresting him in a city park Wednesday morning. KCRG-TV reports police were called to Miller Riverview Park on a report of a domestic disturbance. Police located 33-year-old Daniel Adams and arrested him on a warrant for having left a local Iowa Department of Corrections facility. While being booked, Adams pushed and spit on one officer, and head-butted another.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The director of a Des Moines daycare center faces charges in a drunk driving incident. WHO-TV reports 28-year old Tiffany McCauley crashed into a construction site. McCauley admitted to drinking and the officer noticed what appeared to be vomit on her shirt. Witnesses saw her throw a marijuana pipe out of her car. She blew a .361, more than four times the legal limit. McCauley is the director of Teddy Bear Town daycare at SCAVO High School.

ELDON, IA (IRN) – The 46th Annual American Gothic Days in Eldon is underway this weekend. The festival is named after the house located in Eldon which is the backdrop of Grant Wood’s famous painting “American Gothic.” The most unusual event? Cardboard boat races.

BUFFALO, IA (IRN) – Investigators are seeking information on the death of a Davenport man whose body was pulled from the Mississippi River near Buffalo, Iowa. WQAD-TV reports 35-year-old Gregory Dunbar was last seen leaving his apartment building on May 8. Later that week his body was pulled from the Mississippi.

GENEVA, IA (IRN) – A parolee accused of burning an icehouse in Franklin County has pled guilty. KIMT-TV reports 27-year-old Brandon Deetz entered the plea Wednesday. Deetz was arrested after deputies stopped a car that witnesses spotted leaving the fire scene near Geneva on March 9. Deetz was on parole for 2012 arson convictions when he was arrested.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A woman in custody at the Polk County jail has died. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into the death of 50-year-old Linda Spencer of Des Moines. Jail staff members found Spencer, initiated life-saving measures, and were able to revive her. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital. She was in jail to serve 29 days for possession of methamphetamine.

ANKENY, IA (IRN) – One person has died and another was hospitalized following a four-vehicle accident on Interstate 35 near Ankeny. The Des Moines Register reports one of the drivers in the crash fled the scene on foot, but was apprehended by police.

JACKSON, NE (IRN) – Two residents of Council Bluffs are dead and two others were injured in an accident in Jackson, Nebraska, according to KETV. Shortly before dawn yesterday, deputies found the car down an embankment in a creek. They say the driver, 45-year-old Christopher Cox, is OK. 57-year-old Connie Fauzae and 9-year-old Espionza Lara were killed, and 10-year-old Jose Lara is hospitalized. Cox said he swerved to avoid a deer and lost control.

MUSCATINE, IA (IRN) – A jury has found a former Muscatine police officer guilty of sexually assaulting a Davenport woman while he was on duty. WQAD-TV reports Tom Tovar, the ex-police officer, says the sex was consensual. She says it wasn’t. He gave her a ride in his squad car to her hotel after her boyfriend was arrested for drunk driving. Tovar faces a mandatory ten years in prison.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an attempted abduction that happened on the north side of Des Moines. A 14-year-old girl reported that she was walking when a man jumped out of a car and started chasing her. The girl ran to a nearby home and asked the occupants to call police. The man fled.

AMES, IA (IRN) – The president of the board that governs Iowa’s three public universities says he’s backing a tuition hike that’s been criticized by Gov. Terry Branstad. KCCI-TV reports Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter says the legislature has underfunded the universities. Branstad disagrees. A public split is unusual between Branstad and Rastetter, one of the governor’s top donors.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A Council Bluffs man has been charged with child endangerment after authorities found that 11 children were living in filthy conditions. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Richard Simet is charged with neglect of a dependent person and a dozen counts of child endangerment. The same charges face 34-year-old Bobbi Simet, who authorities say isn’t married to Richard Simet. The home was dirty, infested with cockroaches, and smelled like urine.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Mason City man has been charged with burglary and domestic assault. KIMT-TV reports 32-year-old Robby Rasmussen entered a home Wednesday and threatened to kill one or more of the occupants. Rasmussen cut one of the victims and allegedly restricted the airways of another. Rasmussen fled but was arrested a short time later.

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Burlington police have discovered what is believed to be a human foot at Lake West, according to WQAD-TV. Detectives were called to the scene yesterday afternoon. Investigators have contacted the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and will work with their lab experts to confirm that the found remains are, in fact, a human foot.

DES MOINES, IA – Authorities are investigating an overnight fire at a home in Des Moines. KCCI-TV reports when firefighters arrived, the top floor and roof of the home were engulfed in flames. Two people were inside the home at the time of the fire, but managed to make it out safely. No injuries were reported.

KELLOGG, IA (IRN) – A teen driver was killed and four others were hurt in a crash Tuesday near Kellogg, according to the Iowa State Patrol. A car failed to stop at a stop sign and hit a truck. Callers reported that the truck was on fire, but three people were able to get out. Two people were trapped in the car. The driver of the car, 16-year-old Trenton Brady of rural Kellogg, was pronounced dead at the scene. Four were hospitalized.

FLOYD COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A bicyclist was killed after being hit by a pickup truck in rural Floyd County. The Iowa State Patrol says 50-year-old Todd Schriever, of Marble Rock, was traveling southbound in his pickup when he hit 69-year-old Robert Philips, of Nashua, who was heading in the same direction on his bike. Philips was killed in the crash.

JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Drinking a beer or other alcohol could soon be banned at certain beaches in Johnson and Linn Counties. KCRG-TV reports the Iowa Department of Natural Resources plans to vote tomorrow on whether to ban alcohol at Lake Macbride and Pleasant Creek. Supporters say it will make the beaches more family-friendly.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A family of ospreys have chosen an unusual home–the Wells Fargo Campus in West Des Moines. KCCI-TV reports the ospreys showed up for the second summer in a row, and have already laid eggs. The nest has a webcam that records the birds 24 hours a day. OspreyCam 2016 can be found on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website.