KANSAS CITY(AP) — A 37-year-old man who had been missing for a week is hospitalized after being found in a wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine.

Lee’s Summit police say a dirt bike rider found Ryan Linneman, of Lee’s Summit, Wednesday evening in the wreckage along Interstate 470 in Kansas City.

Linneman was taken to a hospital with critical injuries. Lee’s Summit police spokesman Sgt. Chris Depue says he did not have an updated condition report Thursday.

Police asked the public for help finding Linneman after he was last seen driving his car on Oct. 9.

The crash investigators determined Linneman’s car ran off of Interstate 470 and went down a 50-foot incline. The vehicle landed in a gully that was obscured from the view of passing motorists.

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Salina Post

SALINE COUNTY —Numerous locations across the United States have received checks purported to be from Frisbie Construction.

The problem is that Frisbie Construction, 7793 East Kansas Highway 4, didn’t send the checks.

Those who received the checks were told to send a text a number confirming they had received the checks, according toSaline County Sheriff’s Captain Jim Hughes.

The number was not a Salina phone number or a Frisbie Construction phone number.

Persons who texted then received a text back asking which check it was and for what amount, according to Hughes and it was not clear how the check forgers actually made money off the scam.

Frisbie Construction officials told Salina Post that so far, counterfeit Frisbie checks had been received in 19 states and the District of Columbia between Sept. 9 and Monday.

Twenty-eight checks totaling $99,956.40 were actually presented to recipients’ banks, however, Frisbie Construction’s bank, UMB, declined payment on the checks, according to Frisbie Construction officials.

Additionally, Frisbie Construction received 49 phone calls during that period from people wondering why they were receiving the checks.

In fact, the first phone call the company received was the first notification that anything was amiss and allowed Frisbie Construction to notify UMB about the situation before any checks were presented for payment, thus allowing the company to avoid losing any money, the company told Salina Post. The checks associated with those 49 phone calls totaled $176,928.53, Frisbie Construction officials told Salina Post.

The company said that some of the checks looked more professional than others, but all had the same clear signature. Additionally, checks were all different colors, the company noted.

Hughes said that some sort of data breach is suspected, but officials have yet to determine where that breach happened.

FORD COUNTY — Authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion that injured employees at the Cargill plant in Dodge City early Thursday.

The explosion was in a small stand-alone building at the protein facility and two employees are being treated for burns, according to a statement from Cargill.

As a precaution, production at the plant was suspended for the day. Cargill authorities released no additional details.

OSAGE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged animal cruelty.

Last weekend, the Osage County Sheriff’s office issued a public warning about dogs that were reported loose west of Lyndon, according to Sheriff Laurie Dunn.

She said the Alaskan Tundra Shepherds in question had been moved and authorities did not know where. All the dogs were moved from the property, according to the owner’s attorney.

On Wednesday, deputies arrested Christi Lynne Shaffer, 53, of Lyndon, Kansas, who is the owner of the emaciated dogs, according to Dunn. Shaffer remains in custody on 20 counts of cruelty to animals and 3 counts of permitting a dangerous animal to be at large.

The sheriff’s office released no additional details early Thursday.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal prosecutors say police seized 144 pounds of methamphetamine in tires stored at a shed at a Kansas City man’s home.

The man, 38-year-old Jorge Rodriquez-Gonzalez, was charged this week in U.S. District Court with drug trafficking.

Charging documents allege a confidential source bought a minimum of one kilogram of meth from Rodriguez-Gonzalez at least five days a week.

Prosecutors said that on Oct. 10, Rodriguez-Gonzalez was arrested after showing up for a drug buy with his wife and two young children. Police confiscated weapons, vehicles and drugs, including the methamphetamine inside four tires in a shed near Rodriquez-Gonzales’s home.

Court records show Rodriguez-Gonzalez told authorities he lived where the drugs were found but didn’t know how the tires got into his shed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is trying to sort out whether states can prosecute immigrants who use fake Social Security numbers to get a job.

The justices heard arguments Wednesday in Kansas’ appeal of a state court ruling that threw out three convictions after concluding the state was seeking to punish immigrants who used fake IDs to obtain jobs.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the federal government has exclusive authority to determine whether an immigrant may work in the United States.

The justices seemed concerned that states shouldn’t be hampered in other identity-theft prosecutions when someone might use a stolen Social Security number to get a driver’s license or arrange for direct deposit of a paycheck.

The case arose from three prosecutions in Johnson County, a largely suburban area outside Kansas City where the district attorney has aggressively pursued immigrants under the Kansas identity theft and false-information statutes.

The convictions under state law could alter immigration status and lead to deportation.

The issue is whether Kansas is blocked from prosecuting those crimes because it is relying on information that is on a required federal work authorization form, the I-9. Kansas, backed by the Trump administration and 12 states, argues it can prosecute because the same information also appears on state work forms.

In 2012, the court ruled that portions of an Arizona law targeting immigrants without proper legal documents could not be enforced because federal law trumps state measures in the area of immigration. The three immigrants in the Kansas case say the high court’s Arizona decision should determine the outcome in their situation.

Kansas’ argument would render the Arizona decision meaningless, Justice Elena Kagan said in an exchange with Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Schmidt disagreed. “We aren’t targeting folks because of their status. We are enforcing our identity theft laws,” he said.

Justice Samuel Alito made clear that he thought that Kansas did nothing wrong in prosecuting the three men who all were caught using fake IDs to get hired.

“This is not a situation like Arizona, where a state has criminalized something that is not criminal under federal law. It’s a case where the same conduct is criminal under federal law and, Kansas says, under Kansas law,” Alito said. Alito dissented from the relevant portions of the Arizona decision.

Several justices elicited answers from Paul Hughes, representing the immigrants, that indicated they could issue a narrow ruling in this case in favor of the immigrants without stepping on states’ ability to pursue traditional identity theft cases.

Such an outcome might please Chief Justice John Roberts, who was part of the majority in the Arizona case along with the four liberal justices. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired last year, wrote the 2012 opinion.

The court could end up deciding very little, Justice Neil Gorsuch said, because Kansas and other states would be sure to use documents other than work authorization forms in identity theft cases against immigrants.

“So we are deciding how many angels are dancing on the head of this pin? Is that what this case is about?” Gorsuch said.

A decision in Kansas v. Garcia, 17-834, is expected by late June.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a bank robbery and have released security camera images of the suspect.

Just before 3:30p.m. Wednesday, police responded to the Fidelity Bank  in the 2100 block of North Bradley Fair in Wichita, according to a media release.

The suspect walked into the bank, handed the teller a note, threatened a weapon but did not show one.

The suspect ran from the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. There were no injuries.

The suspect is described as white man in his mid-30s and wearing brown face paint. He wore all black including black gloves. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

On September 16, a woman robbed the bank, according to police. Authorities have no reported an arrest in that case.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 45-year-old Lawrence man has been sentenced to 11 years and four months in a case in which the reasons for the charges remain unclear.

BJ Lauri was sentenced Wednesday for kidnapping and sexual battery. An affidavit detailing the allegations against Lauri were sealed after a judge determined the victim’s mental or emotional well-being could be jeopardized by its release.

Police previously said that in January, a woman told a Hy-Vee employee she had been held against her will and several “criminal events” occurred during that time. Lauri was originally charged with human trafficking and other more severe charges but pleaded no contest to the two charges.

Lauri’s co-defendant, 51-year-old John Brown, is cooperating with prosecutors. He is charged with kidnapping and two misdemeanors.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated assault and have made an arrest.

Just after midnight Monday, police responded to a vandalism call at a home in the 1600 Block of North Robin in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

An 80-year-old woman at the residence told police she heard a loud noise outside the home and found damage to a door of the attached garage, to a car parked inside the garage from a what appeared to be a shotgun.

An 18-year-old girl was also inside the home at the time of the incident, according to Davidson. There were no injuries.

Investigators learned that two 17-year-old boys were involved. Police located and arrested them Tuesday without incident. Officers also recovered the shotgun. The 18-year-old girl at the home and the boys arrested are acquainted, according to Davidson.

One of the boys is being held on requested charges that include discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling and criminal threat, according to Davidson. The other boy is being held on a requested charge of discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling.

WICHITA—Well known Wichita lawyer Brad Pistotnick was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to his role in a cyberattack against online sites that were critical of his work.

On Wednesday, Pistotnick’s attorney Mark Schoenhofer released a statement on his client’s change of plea in Federal Court.

“The U.S. Government dismissed all ten felonies listed in the original indictment against lawyer Brad Pistotnik in exchange for pleas to three misdemeanor “accessory after the fact” charges.

Mr. Pistotnik entered into a plea agreement whereby the government sought no prison time, no probation and Mr. Pistotnik would pay fines of $375,000.00 plus court costs and restitution.

The U.S. District Court accepted the plea deal. Mr. Pistotnik has paid his fines and restitution, and he is now done with this chapter of his life. He looks forward to continuing to assist Kansans who have been injured in serious accidents.”

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WICHITA, KAN. – A well known Wichita lawyer was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to being involved in a cyberattack, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said. He was ordered to pay a $375,000 fine and restitution of $55,200.

Bradley A. Pistotnik, 63, pleaded guilty to three counts of being an accessory after the fact to making an extortionate threat over the internet. In his plea, Pistotnik admitted he was contacted by attorneys from the legal firm Jaburg Wilk and Ripoff Report regarding cyberattacks launched against Ripoff Report, Jaburg Wilk and Leagle. He falsely denied knowing anything about the attacks.

In fact, Pistotnik knew co-defendant David Dorsett had initiated a flood of emails against the servers used by Leagle, RipoffReport and Jaburg Wilk. Dorsett had met previously with Pistonik offering web design and reputation management services. Dorsett sent emails demanding the removal of information that reflected badly on Pistotnik from their web sites. In one of the threatening emails, Dorsett said, “… if you don’t remove it we will begin targeting your advertisers…”