Baldwin City
CRIME NEWS
Kidnapped Topeka woman shot by police during chase files lawsuit against city
TOPEKA (KSNT) – A woman who was kidnapped and shot during a 2022 chase and shootout in downtown is suing the City of Topeka and multiple Topeka Police Department officers. She claims the officers used excessive force and is asking for $75,000 in damages. According to court documents obtained by 27 News, on the morning […]
Kansas felon on work release found dead on the job
WICHITA, KAN. – Wichita Work Release Facility (WWRF) resident Joshua Degroot, 44, died Thursday, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections. Degroot was serving a 44-month sentence for two convictions of aggravated battery in Leavenworth County, Kansas. He had nearly a dozen previous convictions including three for kidnapping, theft, burglary, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, harassment by telephone, criminal discharge of a firearm and criminal possession of a firearm, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Lenexa PD detective travels 2,500 miles to bring 2005 murder suspect to justice
For nearly two decades, Lenexa Police Det. James Rader looked at a picture of Maria Morfin-Rojas on an almost daily basis. He traveled to El Salvador last month to extradite her suspected killer.
Woman sues Topeka police, saying she shouldn't have been shot while a hostage
Topeka police negligently shot a woman twice as she was being held hostage by the driver of a car they were chasing during a gun battle in September 2022, that woman alleges in a lawsuit filed last week. Attorneys Kevin Shepherd and Ronald Pope filed the two-count civil suit Sept. 26 against Topeka's city government and 13 of its police officers on behalf of Kristi L. Mendez, 40, who said police shot her once each in a...