COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating four suspects after a weekend drug bust in Kansas.

On Saturday, police executed a search warrant for suspected drug activity at 206 N. Seventh Street in Arkansas City, according to a media release. During a search of the residence and its occupants, numerous items of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found.

Police arrested Joseph Eugene Chapman, 44, on suspicion of one misdemeanor count each of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. Mindy Lynn Chapman, 46, was arrested on a Cowley County District Court warrant for misdemeanor failure to appear.

Richard Louis Wamego, 62, was arrested on suspicion of one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. He was transported to and booked into the county jail in lieu of $1,000 bond through Arkansas City district court.

Michael Zavala, 51, was arrested on suspicion of felony possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Zavala was transported to and booked into the county jail in lieu of $5,500 bond through Arkansas City district court. He remained in custody.

Police on Oct. 5 executed a search warrant for suspected drug activity at 206 N. Seventh St. During a search of the residence and its occupants, numerous items of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found.

Chapman, Wamego and Zavala remain in custody, according to the release.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an attempted carjacking and have made an arrest.

Just before 1a.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of a carjacking in convenience store parking lot in the 3800 Block of north Rock Road in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

An 18-year-old and a 19-year-old at the scene told police they were getting gas at the convenience store when a suspect identified as 33-year-old Randy Sturgis of Wichita approached the woman.

He told them he had escaped from federal prison and wanted a ride, according to Davidson. The woman refused and Sturgis became agitated. He stated he had a knife and grabbed the women in an attempt to place them in the vehicle. The women broke free and ran into the convenience store to contact police, according to Davidson.

Sturgis entered the vehicle but was unable to get it to move. He took a cell phone that belonged to the 19-year-old and escaped on foot.

Officers quickly arrived, located Sturgis and he ran from them. After a short foot pursuit, police captured him.

An investigation revealed that Sturgis had walked away from the Federal Halfway House in the 3800 Block of North Toben just before the incident occurred.  There were no injuries reported, according to Davidson.

Sturgis is being held on requested charges that include kidnapping, burglary, theft and resist arrest. He has previous convictions for criminal threat, theft and criminal possession of a firearm, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the shooting at a Kansas City, Kansas, bar that left four dead and five wounded (all times local):

A suspect in a weekend Kansas bar shooting that left four dead and five wounded was given probation last year for trafficking contraband while imprisoned for aggravated robbery instead of more time behind bars.

The same Leavenworth County, Kansas, judge that allowed Hugo Villanueva-Morales to avoid prison in the case also made news earlier this year when he reduced the sentence of a convicted sex offender because he said the 13- and 14-year-old girls who were victims in the abuse were actually “aggressors.”

Police continue searching for Villanueva-Morales. He and 23-year-old Javier Alatorre are charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Sunday’s shooting at the Tequila KC bar in Kansas City, Kansas. Alatorre was arrested hours after the shooting in Kansas City, Missouri.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and asking the public for help to identify and locate two suspects.

Just before 6:00 a.m., Wednesday, police were dispatched to the Kwik Shop located at 1700 SW
Topeka Boulevard in Topeka in reference to an aggravated burglary to a vehicle, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

A female suspect reportedly entered the vehicle which was occupied by a passenger. The suspect forced the passenger out of the vehicle and fled the scene. The vehicle was located a short time later, unoccupied, near NW Jackson and Crane in Topeka.

Police are attempting to identify two persons of interest in this case and have released security camera images.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police.

WICHITA – A former ICE officer was indicted today on a charge of impersonating a federal officer, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Andrew J. Pleviak, 42, Topeka, is charged with one count of false impersonation of a federal officer. In court documents, Pleviak is alleged to have tried to have a man who was arrested by the Kingman County Sheriff’s Department released from custody.

Juan Tapia-Alfaro was arrested after deputies allegedly found a Kansas driver’s license he fraudulently obtained using a birth certificate and Social Security number of a person living in Puerto Rico. On the same day, Pleviak is alleged to have called the Sheriff’s Department claiming to be a supervisor with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In fact, Pleviak was no longer an ICE employee. In 2018, he was convicted of violating a federal computer security statute.

On Sept. 3, 2019, Pleviak allegedly gave the Sheriff’s Department a letter on ICE letterhead claiming that Tapia-Alfaro was working as a confidential informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration and requesting charges be dropped. Sheriff’s Department officers saw through the ruse and arrested Pleviak on the spot.

According to court records, Tapia-Alfaro said he knew Pleviak from doing work on Pleviak’s house.

If convicted, Pleviak could face up to three years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Kingman County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lind is prosecuting.

FORD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities and USD 443 officials are investigating an alleged school threat and have made an arrest.

Just before 6a.m. Tuesday, police received information about a potential threat of violence to the high school in Dodge City, according to a media release.

Officers immediately began investigating the information and learned that a 14-year-old  high school student made a threat to shoot up the high school and mentioned the different weapons he would use.

Police located the boy at his residence where he was arrested without incident. A case will be filed with the Ford County Attorney’s Office for the alleged charge of felony criminal threat.

Police have made 6 arrests this school year alone for threats of school violence in Dodge City, according to the release.

SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged criminal threat.

Just after 7:30p.m. Tuesday, police were called to the Salina Public Library, 301 West Elm Street after report of a disorderly subject, according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.

When the two officers arrived, they made contact with  31-year-old Victor Delatorre on the west side of the library.

Delatorre appeared to be intoxicated and allegedly was belligerent and yelling profanities, according to Forrester. During the conversation, Delartorre allegedly threatened to kill the two officers.

During the investigation, three library patrons including a 28-year-old woman a 22-year-old man, and an 18-year-old man told the officers that Delatorre walked up to them and threatened to shoot them, according to Forrester.

Police arrested Delatorre on requested charges that include Five counts of criminal threat, Disorderly subject and Obstruction/interference with a law enforcement officer.

He has a previous convictions for DUI, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 4a.m. Wednesday in Sedgwick County.

A 2018 Kia Sportage driven by Stephen McClain, 72, Wichita, was westbound in the eastbound lanes of West Kellogg at Maize in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

The vehicle collided head-on with a Chevy Silverado driven by a 50-year-old man.

McClain was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Davidson. The other driver was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The accident remains under investigation, according to Davidson.

By DAN MARGOLIES
Kansas News Service

HILLSBORO —A Kansas City-based company that specializes in turning around financially distressed hospitals is proposing to purchase Hillsboro Community Hospital in rural Kansas for $6.9 million.

The company, Rural Hospital Group, was formed in 2017 and has acquired three other rural hospitals: one in Wellington, Kansas; another  in Boonville, Missouri; and a third in Marion, Kentucky. It has since sold the hospital in Boonville.

Hillsboro Community Hospital was placed in receivership in January and then in Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its previous owner defaulted on its bills and other financial obligations.

Through a subsidiary, Rural Hospital Group has submitted a “stalking horse” bid for Hillsboro, meaning if any other bidders emerge, RHG’s bid will set the floor for other bids. So far, Rural Hospital Group appears to be the only bidder.

“We have signed an asset purchase agreement, which starts the stalking horse process,” said Dennis Davis, one of RHG’s principals.

Davis said he expects the purchase to close before the end of the year.

“If there are no other bidders, our bid will be accepted as the bid and we will close fairly quickly,” he said.

The 15-bed hospital has endured multiple owners and a bankruptcy over the last couple of years.

In 2017, its operations were taken over by a group of Miami businessmen led by Jorge Perez, a group that had acquired control of nearly two dozen distressed rural hospitals across the United States.

Last week, a member of the group, David Byrns, was charged in federal court in Kansas City with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Byrns was CEO of Putnam County Memorial Hospital in Unionville, Missouri, another 15-bed hospital taken over by Perez’s group before it was ousted by the hospital’s board of trustees.

The Unionville hospital was the subject of a scorching audit more than two years ago by Missouri State Auditor Nichole Galloway, who questioned the legality of a lab billing scheme orchestrated by the group.

Byrns stands accused of submitting fraudulent laboratory test claims on behalf of patients who never set foot in Putnam County Memorial Hospital. Court documents indicate the criminal case has been transferred to Florida for a future plea and sentencing.

Late last year, Perez’s group, Empower HMS, began missing payments on Hillsboro Community Hospital’s bills, and the town, which lies about 50 miles north of Wichita, threatened to cut off the hospital’s electricity. The Bank of Hays eventually sought to foreclose on the hospital after it defaulted on a construction loan, which led to the appointment of a receiver to run the hospital’s affairs. The receiver, Cohesive Management + Consulting, in turn put the hospital in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March.

About a dozen other hospitals operated by Perez and his associates are now in bankruptcy. Unlike Hillsboro, those hospitals have remained under the group’s control and their bankruptcy cases have all been consolidated in North Carolina.

Under the auspices of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee, Hillsboro Community Hospital’s finances have stabilized. Davis said the hospital still has not been able to access financial statements predating the bankruptcy because Perez’s group installed its own electronic records system and cut off access to it after they were ousted.

“So if you just look at day one, which is like January of this year, right to this day, that’s the only financial information we have had to make our evaluation,” Davis said. “But at least we know that’s been prepared honestly.”

Davis said his group’s turnaround strategy generally entails reducing staff, renegotiating contracts, updating a hospital’s fees and installing its own electronic system.

“A lot of this almost doesn’t really apply to Hillsboro because Hillsboro went through a unique situation,” he said. “But generally speaking, most rural hospitals that are in financial trouble either have poor governance or poor management or both.”

RHG plans to fund its purchase with its own money as well as a loan from the Bank of Hays, according to bankruptcy court documents.

Brent King, Hillsboro’s Chapter 11 trustee, said he was looking forward to establishing a relationship with RHG.

“They understand rural healthcare and they will serve the Hillsboro community with pride,” he said.

Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

SARCOXIE, MO (AP) — Jurors have ruled that an 86-year-old former minister is a sexually violent predator who should remain confined even though he has completed a 15-year prison sentence for sodomizing teenage boys.

Jurors reached the verdict last month in the case against Donald Peckham, but the case records weren’t publicized until Tuesday. Prosecutors say Peckham, who is from Sarcoxie in Southwest Missouri, sexually abused at least 14 boys between 12 and 16 years old over the course of 30 years and continued to victimize young boys until he was 67 years old.

Defense attorney Amy Clay says the decision to indefinitely commit Peckham to a treatment program run by the Missouri Department of Mental Health amounts to a “life sentence” because few people get through it.