Violent Crime

Law would take away guns from domestic violence offenders (03/18/10)
Convicted domestic violence offenders in Iowa could lose their right to own guns and ammunition if the governor signs a bill into law Monday. A person accused of domestic violence who has a protective order placed against them can be required to relinquish their firearms temporarily, the bill states...

Drug court could fall victim to budget cuts (03/10/10)
A program that has changed lives in Plymouth County may be threatened. Adult drug court, in which adults facing drug-related charges meet with a panel of their peers and follow its recommendations, could be cut in Plymouth County if a lack of money is available, according to Mary Buhman, drug court coordinator...

Authorities release identity in rural Hinton suicide case (03/01/10)
The 28-year-old man found dead on a rural Hinton road has been identified as Wilson A. Shierk, of Kenosha, Wis. Investigators have not yet found a reason Shierk was in rural Plymouth County, but Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo said evidence still shows the man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound...

Wisconsin man takes own life near rural Hinton (02/26/10)
Information released today (Friday) by the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department stated the man found on a rural Hinton road this week died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The name of the deceased, who is a male, 29 years old, from Kenosha, Wis., will be released later, according to a report from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department...

Complaints, citations, arrests down in Le Mars for 2009 (02/26/10)
Good news comes from the the Le Mars Police Department 2009 annual report. The report indicated numbers were down for six categories: accidents, arrests and juvenile charges, citations and warnings, complaints investigated by officers and calls for service...

Authorities work to identify dead man (02/25/10)
The name of a man found dead on a rural Hinton road and the cause of his death were still unknown as of 7 a.m. today (Thursday). The body was first found by a motorist traveling on 310th Street just east of K-49 Wednesday afternoon, about eight miles southeast of Hinton, according to a report from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office...

E-911 supplements IT coordinator's salary for 2011 (02/10/10)
Plymouth County E-911 Board members approved putting $5,000 toward the salary for Shawn Olson, county 911/information technology (IT)/GIS coordinator. The Plymouth County Supervisors took them up on that offer Tuesday for the 2011 fiscal year. Olson's new wage was OK'd in the supervisors' with their preliminary approval of the 2010-11 proposed $21,891,804 budget...

County injects $2,500 into drug court to sustain program (12/16/09)
Plymouth County's drug court is receiving a $2,500 boost from the county coffers. On Tuesday, the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved giving that sum of money to the program to keep it going through June 2010. Drug Court, which brings adults and juveniles facing drug-related charges in front of a panel of their peers for goal-setting, encouragement and enforcement, is low on money...

The stimulus dollars and you: Have you been touched by recovery money? (12/10/09)
More than $8 million worth of federal stimulus dollars has been quietly sliding through the IV of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and into Plymouth County's veins. That injection meant some schools could keep a teacher one more year. It meant replacing a worn bridge and repaving some roads. It meant some families will have money to weatherize their homes...

Jury finds Robinson not guilty in traffic death (11/27/09)
A Merrill man charged with vehicular homicide was found not guilty by a jury Wednesday. Danny Clyde Robinson, 50, faced the felony charge after being in an August 2007 collision on Plymouth County roads just north of Merrill that claimed the life of 78-year-old Fern Nielson, of Lake Norden, S.D...

Jury finds Robinson not guilty (11/26/09)
A Merrill man charged with vehicular homicide was found not guilty by a jury Wednesday. Danny Clyde Robinson, 50, faced the felony charge after being in an August 2007 collision on Plymouth County roads just north of Merrill that claimed the life of 78-year-old Fern Nielson, of Lake Norden, S.D...

Juvenile center's client number down, budget tighter (11/13/09)
Plymouth County juveniles charged with serious crimes are sometimes ordered to go to the Youth Emergency Services Center by judges to await their fates. It costs the county $150 per day, per person to house an individual at the detention center, which rents space on the campus of the Cherokee Mental Health Institute...

Counterfeit $100 bills reported locally (11/11/09)
Three reports of people trying to pay at Le Mars businesses with fake $100 bills popped up in the last month. According to the Le Mars Police, one man attempted to pass a $100 bill at one Le Mars business, but the clerk wouldn't accept it. Within 24 hours, the same man used the false bill at another local business, which accepted it, according to the police...

Barton pleads guilty in drug delivery, faces prison (11/06/09)
A 39-year-old Akron man was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after admitting to giving methadone to an 18-year-old in return for marijuana on two occasions. Stuart Barton pleaded guilty Thursday in Plymouth County District Court to two counts of delivery of methadone, a class C felony...

Police to use text messages, e-mails to alert public (11/05/09)
You can now get free alerts from the police on your cell phone and e-mail. The Le Mars Police Department recently signed up for Nixle, a free program that allows community groups like law enforcement agencies to provide up-to-the-minute updates to the general public...

Man charged with shooting gun in town found guilty (10/16/09)
A man who allegedly fired a shotgun near a moving car in Le Mars after the driver and passenger rang his doorbell and ran away was found guilty of two charges Thursday. Gary Holst, 69, of Le Mars, was convicted of criminal mischief in the third degree and reckless use of a firearm with property damage...

Drug court: It's not about being judged (10/15/09)
Editor's note: This is the second story in a two-part series about Plymouth County's drug court, which celebrates its second anniversary this week. Jerry Haack was homecoming king in his class at Gehlen Catholic School. He set records on the track. He grew up in a healthy family environment...

Le Mars man arrested for car theft (09/29/09)
The Minnesota State Patrol stopped a Le Mars man who allegedly stole $1,745 worth of possessions and a car from a man staying at a Le Mars motel. According to a Le Mars Police report, Zakaria Hussein Ahmed, 20, allegedly entered a hotel room at the Bel Air Motel at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday where Aaron Engen, of Bemidji, Minn., was sleeping...

Twenty-eight minute chase leads to arrest (09/25/09)
A 28-minute chase that involved officers from eight agencies culminated in a crash and the arrest of an O'Brien County man Thursday. The incident unfolded like this, according to a Plymouth County Sheriff's report. At about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the sheriff's office received word that Michael Lindgren, 35, wanted for burglary in the third degree in O'Brien County, was in the Le Mars area...

Two suspects nabbed in Mr. P's burglary (08/06/09)
The police arrested two men for allegedly breaking into Mr. P's Pizza and Sports Grill early Sunday morning and stealing two large-screen TVs, two cash drawers and a safe. David Lee Rosales, 24, of Le Mars, and Anthony David Rodriguez, 21, of Le Mars were arrested and booked into the Plymouth County Jail Wednesday...

Thieves steal TVs, cash, safe from Mr. P's (08/04/09)
Burglars broke into Mr. P's Pizza and Sports Grill early Sunday morning through a window and stole two large flat-screen TVs, two cash drawers, a safe and an undetermined amount of cash, according to a Le Mars Police report. The burglary was discovered by the new owner of the business, Sgt. Tim Hop of the Le Mars Police said...

Officer injured in arrest (07/31/09)
A Le Mars police officer was injured in a scuffle that ensued after attempting to make an arrest early Friday morning. Officers attempted to serve a warrant on Jaime Avila, 22, of Le Mars, at the Hi Lite bar for an outstanding warrant for serious assault...

Alleged Bob's burglars linked to Family Table break-in (07/27/09)
The two men the police are charging with breaking into Bob's Drive-In earlier this month now face new charges for allegedly breaking into Family Table in Le Mars the same night. Michael Anthony Bliege, 18, of Le Mars, and Trinity "Trent" Lee Schoen, 19, of Remsen, also face charges in two Remsen burglaries, at Majeres Foodtown and The Triangle Bar...

Two men charged in local burglaries (07/24/09)
During a joint search Thursday, two men were arrested and charged in the recent burglaries of three county businesses including Bob's Drive-In. The Remsen Police Department executed a search warrant on a residence at 121 2nd Ave. N.E., in Le Mars, Wednesday, according to the police report...

Former Kingsley funeral director released from prison on probation (07/16/09)
A former Kingsley funeral director will be out on probation after a judge suspended his prison sentence this week. Mark Rohde, of Kingsley, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing more than $175,000 from the funeral home where he was part-owner...

Burglars hit two Le Mars restaurants (07/15/09)
Burglars broke into Bob's Drive-In and Family Table in Le Mars between late Monday night and early Tuesday morning. An unknown sum of money was stolen from Bob's Drive-In, while the burglar or burglars at Family Table apparently got away without anything substantial, according to the Le Mars Police...

Grant will help provide sexual abuse education (07/13/09)
The Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (CSADV) Plymouth County outreach shared its message of sexual abuse prevention with more than 500 children this past school year. A $6,500 grant received this month from Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) Iowa will help CSADV Plymouth County outreach continue educating elementary, preschool and daycare children...

Sheriff's office catches copper burglar (06/11/09)
After a string of break-ins around northwest Iowa, the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office caught one suspect in the act of breaking in to steal copper wire. The sheriff's deputies stopped a burglary in progress Monday at the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) site south of Hinton on Highway 75...

Local man charged with sexually abusing minor (05/26/09)
A Le Mars man faces a sexual abuse charge for allegedly having sexual contact with a 12 year old. Richard W. Shade, 31, was charged with sexual abuse in the second degree and booked into the Plymouth County Jail on Friday after an investigation by the Department of Human Services and the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office...

Man charged with assaulting woman with putty knife (05/11/09)
A Kingsley man was arrested Friday morning at the Wells' Dairy North Ice Cream Plant in Le Mars after he allegedly assaulted a female employee by placing a putty knife against her throat, according to the Le Mars Police. Jeston Abon, 38, also an employee at the plant, was arrested at about 7:39 a.m. after allegedly assaulting both that female and a male employee who came to the aid of the female, according to the police report...

Rural Le Mars man arrested for possible sexual abuse (05/07/09)
A 31-year-old rural Le Mars man was arrested Wednesday for possible sexual abuse against a child younger than 12. Patrick Elmer Klein faces two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree, class B felonies. Sexual abuse in the second degree involves sexual abuse in which the victim is under the age of 12...

Florida cyclist puts in $500 to help hit-and-run victim (05/04/09)
A Florida man is willing to put up $500 of his own money to help find the individual who threw a full beer can at cyclist Erin Schroeder and caused her bike to crash on a Plymouth County road. Joe Mizereck, an avid cyclist in Tallahassee, Fla., came across Schroeder's story online...

Drug stings lead to five Le Mars arrests (04/30/09)
A man was arrested early this morning at the former church building he lives in for allegedly selling marijuana. Senglem Eric Wong, 40, of Le Mars was one of five drug arrests in two drug stings that took place Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Le Mars...

Cell phone photos could make teens sex offenders (04/28/09)
A Florida teen faces charges of child pornography. A district attorney in Pennsylvania threatened a group of high schoolers with the same charges. All because of photos on their cell phones. Teens who take or send nude or revealing pictures via cell phones could be in deep water. This practice, dubbed "sexting," isn't just hitting the coasts...

Friends set fifth annual Joan Wilson Memorial Run (04/20/09)
The fifth annual Joan Wilson Memorial 5K Run/Walk, honoring a mother, wife, and friend, will kickoff at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 25, at the Le Mars Municipal Park Maser Fitness Trail in Le Mars. The race, organized by the Friends of Joan Wilson, honor the woman who died in a hit-and-run accident while running on a gravel road near her home northwest of Le Mars in May 2004...

Police see complaint, arrest numbers fall (04/16/09)
Le Mars Police records show that in the past year, complaints are down. Tickets are down. Arrests are down. Is Le Mars simply becoming a more law-abiding community? Police Chief Stu Dekkenga said he'd like to think so, but he's not jumping to conclusions...

Holy Terror: LCS students put on 'Murder Takes the Veil' (04/15/09)
A young student named Trillium, whose father was murdered, seeks peace at a women's college run by nuns. Then the campus is shaken by a killing. Now Trillium has to uncover who the murderer is before she becomes the next victim. This theatrical whodunit, put on by Le Mars Community High School students this week, will leave the audience and even the cast guessing...

STOLEN: How to battle bike theft (04/14/09)
Every year, about a dozen stolen bicycles are reported to the Le Mars Police. In the same amount of time, more than double that amount of bikes are turned in to the police. A few are claimed or identified. The others end up on auction or are donated to a good cause...

Sioux City man bites ear in fight outside bar (04/06/09)
A Sioux City man faces a felony charge after allegedly biting part of a Le Mars man's ear off early Sunday morning. Kenneth Rader, 41, of Sioux City was being ejected from the Hi-Lite bar in Le Mars for being "assaultive and disorderly" at about 2:13 a.m., according to the police...

Denim Day participants help create awareness (04/06/09)
People will be wearing denim Wednesday to take a stand against sexual assault. Denim Day was established in protest of a 1999 Italian court case, where a member of the High Court deemed a rape victim's jeans were too tight for the perpetrator to have removed them alone, therefore the victim must have been a willing participant...

Buying pseudoephedrine? The state knows (04/02/09)
Buying pseudoephedrine? An electronic record of your purchase will be sent to state officials. This is the effect of a new Iowa law, signed by Governor Chet Culver last week. The law calls for a state-wide electronic log system that will record and compile every purchase of pseudoephedrine -- a common decongestant that also happens to be a precursor in producing the illegal drug methamphetamine...

Rural Remsen man pleads guilty to animal neglect (03/31/09)
Andrew Vaske, 28, pleaded guilty Monday to animal neglect and six other animal-related charges. The judge sentenced Vaske to seven days in jail plus $750 in fines at the plea taking Monday in Plymouth County District Court. The animal neglect charge, a simple misdemeanor, stems from mid-March when the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office seized 28 head of Vaske's cattle from two locations...

Children to learn about sexual abuse prevention (03/30/09)
Happy Bear will visit Le Mars Public Library this week to teach children about good, bad and mixed-up touch. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The panda mascot, sponsored by the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (CSADV), will lead a sexual abuse prevention and safety program 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 1...

Rohde headed to prison after probation revoked (03/27/09)
A former Kingsley funeral director is headed to prison after a judge revoked his probation for financial crimes this week. Mark Francis Rohde, 50, of Kingsley, was convicted last August of two financial felonies including stealing $179,000 from Mauer-Johnson Funeral Home where he had been part-owner. The judge at the time, Judge Duane Hoffmeyer, suspended a ten-year prison sentence and put Rohde on probation instead...

Man survives stomach stabbing in Merrill (03/23/09)
A 28-year-old man was allegedly stabbed in the abdomen early Monday morning in rural Merrill but escaped with non-life-threatening injuries. Jesse Jennings, 28, of rural Merrill, was stabbed by Blake Adam Roberts, 18, at a rural Merrill home apparently regarding a domestic situation, according to the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office...

Sheriff seizes cattle, owner charged with neglect (03/16/09)
A man charged with neglecting his cattle turned himself in to the sheriff after 29 of his livestock were confiscated Friday. Andrew Vaske, 28, of rural Remsen, faced the charge after the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office investigated complaints of neglected cows and calves on the Vaske farm about two miles southwest of Remsen...

Remsen co-op feeds sheriff's K-9 program (02/25/09)
Sabot, the German shepherd that sniffs out people and drugs for the Plymouth County Sheriff's office is well fed, thanks to Remsen's Farmers Cooperative Company. The co-op has been donating dog food for about three years to the tune of about 40 pounds each month, according to feed department manager Jon Perrizo...

Le Mars man awaits sentencing on firearms charges (02/24/09)
A 79-year-old Le Mars man faces up to 35 years in prison after reportedly selling more than 500 firearms without a license. Chester Douglas Pullen pleaded guilty last week to three charges: dealing firearms without a license, traveling interstate with the intent to engage in conduct that constitutes as dealing firearms without a license, and investing, spending and using proceeds of his illegal interstate firearms dealing to promote and carry on those crimes...

Renewing driver's license changes to deter fraud (02/12/09)
Coming soon -- a new way to renew driver's licenses. By late summer or early fall, it will take 10 days to get a new driver's license, according to Dena Gray-Fisher, a spokeswoman with the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT). Currently people can renew their driver's license and take it home the same day...

Arson ruled cause of house fire (02/12/09)
Authorities ruled an arsonist set a house on fire last Sunday in southeast Le Mars. The fire, at 414 Fifth Ave. S.E., destroyed part of the house but caused no injuries. The house, a rental property owned by Chris DeRocher, of Le Mars, was vacant and unoccupied at the time, according to Fire Chief Wayne Schipper...

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