BARTON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged child sex crimes.

Just after 11 a.m. May 13, police received a report of a sex offense involving two juvenile females occurring at a residence in Great Bend, according to a media release.

Officers and detectives began compiling details and evidence of the report alleging multiple sex offenses in Kansas starting in 2015 and 2016. 

It was reported that the suspect involved in this investigation had left his residence in a black 2013 Dodge Ram pickup, with most of his belongings, in an unknown direction of travel.

During the course of the investigation, detectives requested a ping of his location using the suspect's cellular phone. A number of locations were checked and the suspect identified as 41-year-old Joseph Cruse&nbsp; was located a short time later by officers in a motel parking lot in the 700 block of 10th Street in Great Bend.

Cruse was arrested without further incident and transported to the Barton County Detention Center where he was booked on requested charges of rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated criminal sodomy. He is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652717589648.jpeg" alt="Cruse photo Barton Co." />
 <figcaption>Cruse photo Barton Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged child sex crimes.Just after 11 a.m. May 13, police received a report of a sex offense involving two juvenile females occurring at a residence in Great Bend, according to a media release.Officers and detectives began compiling details and evidence of the report alleging multiple sex offenses in Kansas starting in 2015 and 2016. It was reported that the suspect involved in this investigation had left his residence in a black 2013 Dodge Ram pickup, with most of his belongings, in an unknown direction of travel.During the course of the investigation, detectives requested a ping of his location using the suspect's cellular phone. A number of locations were checked and the suspect identified as 41-year-old Joseph Cruse&nbsp; was located a short time later by officers in a motel parking lot in the 700 block of 10th Street in Great Bend.Cruse was arrested without further incident and transported to the Barton County Detention Center where he was booked on requested charges of rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated criminal sodomy. He is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Police track child sex crime suspect to motel in Great Bend

HARVEY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a Sunday incident that involved throwing household items from his apartment window and threatening the rest of the building.

At 7:15p.m.&nbsp; Sunday night, police were dispatched to Midtown Towers, 115 W. Ninth Street in Newton on a report of someone throwing items from a seventh-story window at people below, according to a media release.

Newton officers had been to this location multiple times in the past two days attempting to contact a person reported to be suicidal and breaking personal property.

Officers made contact with the suspect, who made homicidal, suicidal and threatening statements toward the apartment building. Out of caution, officers asked other residents of the building to voluntarily evacuate or shelter in place.

A Newton Police negotiator arrived and began speaking with the suspect by phone. For about four hours, the negotiator tried to de-escalate the situation and offered the suspect any help he needed. The suspect refused help and continued throwing household items from the window and barricading the apartment doors.

Officers learned that the suspect had multiple felony warrants for his arrest for aggravated burglary, theft and two counts of stalking.

Just before midnight, the Harvey County Emergency Response Team forced entry into the apartment and took the suspect into custody without incident.

The suspect,&nbsp; 58-year-old Lyle Gulick of Newton, was taken to NMC Health, where he was medically cleared, and he was booked into the Harvey County Detention Center. In addition to the warrants, Gulick was booked on requested charges of&nbsp; aggravated assault, felony obstruction to official duty, criminal damage and disorderly conduct. He has previous convictions for aggravated assault and criminal damage to property, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652746294221.png" alt="Gulick has previous convictions for aggravated assault and criminal damage to property, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections" />
 <figcaption>Gulick has previous convictions for aggravated assault and criminal damage to property, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections</figcaption>
 </figure>HARVEY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a Sunday incident that involved throwing household items from his apartment window and threatening the rest of the building.At 7:15p.m.&nbsp; Sunday night, police were dispatched to Midtown Towers, 115 W. Ninth Street in Newton on a report of someone throwing items from a seventh-story window at people below, according to a media release.Newton officers had been to this location multiple times in the past two days attempting to contact a person reported to be suicidal and breaking personal property.Officers made contact with the suspect, who made homicidal, suicidal and threatening statements toward the apartment building. Out of caution, officers asked other residents of the building to voluntarily evacuate or shelter in place.A Newton Police negotiator arrived and began speaking with the suspect by phone. For about four hours, the negotiator tried to de-escalate the situation and offered the suspect any help he needed. The suspect refused help and continued throwing household items from the window and barricading the apartment doors.Officers learned that the suspect had multiple felony warrants for his arrest for aggravated burglary, theft and two counts of stalking.Just before midnight, the Harvey County Emergency Response Team forced entry into the apartment and took the suspect into custody without incident.The suspect,&nbsp; 58-year-old Lyle Gulick of Newton, was taken to NMC Health, where he was medically cleared, and he was booked into the Harvey County Detention Center. In addition to the warrants, Gulick was booked on requested charges of&nbsp; aggravated assault, felony obstruction to official duty, criminal damage and disorderly conduct. He has previous convictions for aggravated assault and criminal damage to property, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Police: Kan. felon jailed after throwing objects from 7th story window

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million on Monday, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration.

The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. It is roughly equal to how many Americans died in the Civil War and World War II combined. It’s as if Boston and Pittsburgh were wiped out.

“It is hard to imagine a million people plucked from this earth,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, who leads a new pandemic center at the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s still happening and we are letting it happen.”

Some of those left behind say they cannot return to normal. They replay their loved ones’ voicemail messages. Or watch old videos to see them dance. When other people say they are done with the virus, they bristle with anger or ache in silence.

“‘Normal.’ I hate that word,” said Julie Wallace, 55, of Elyria, Ohio, who lost her husband to COVID-19 in 2020. “All of us never get to go back to normal.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-native-americans-hispanics-d2234e9d7df7ca8026faf9f88c7baeac">Three out of every four deaths</a>&nbsp;were people 65 and older. More men died than women. White people made up most of the deaths overall. But Black, Hispanic and Native American people have been roughly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white counterparts.

Most deaths happened in urban areas, but rural places — where opposition to masks and vaccinations tends to run high — paid a heavy price at times.

The death toll less than 2 1/2 years into the outbreak is based on death certificate data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. But the real number of lives lost to COVID-19, either directly or indirectly, as a result the disruption of the health care system in the world’s richest country, is believed to be far higher.

The milestone comes more than three months after the U.S. reached 900,000 dead. The pace has slowed since a harrowing winter surge fueled by the omicron variant. The U.S. is averaging about 300 COVID-19 deaths per day, compared with a peak of about 3,400 a day in January 2021.

The largest bell at Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital tolled 1,000 times a week ago, once for every 1,000 deaths. President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered flags lowered to half-staff and called each life “an irreplaceable loss.”

“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow,” he said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/12/statement-from-president-joe-biden-marking-one-million-american-lives-lost-to-covid-19/" target="_blank">statement</a>. “To heal, we must remember.”

More than half the deaths occurred since vaccines became available in December of 2020. Two-thirds of Americans are fully vaccinated, and nearly half of them have had at least one booster dose. But demand for the vaccine has plummeted, and the campaign to put shots in arms has been plagued by misinformation, distrust and political polarization.

Unvaccinated people have a 10 times greater risk of dying of COVID-19 than the fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

“To me, that is what is just so particularly heartbreaking,” Nuzzo said. Vaccines are safe and greatly reduce the likelihood of severe illness, she said. They “largely take the possibility of death off the table.”

Angelina Proia, 36, of New York, lost her father to COVID-19 in April 2020. She runs a support group for grieving families on Facebook and has seen it divided over vaccinations. She has booted people from the group for spreading misinformation.

“I don’t want to hear conspiracy theories. I don’t want to hear anti-science,” said Proia, who wishes her father could have been vaccinated.

Sara Atkins, 42, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, channels her grief into fighting for global vaccination and better access to health care to honor her father, Andy Rotman-Zaid, who died of COVID-19 in December 2020.

“My father gave me marching orders to end it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Atkins said of the pandemic. “He told me, ‘Politicize the hell out of my death if I die of this.’”

Julie Wallace and her husband, Lewis Dunlap, had cellphone numbers one digit apart. She continues paying to keep his number. She calls it just to hear his voice.

“It’s just so important to hear that sometimes,” she said. “It gives you a little bit of reassurance while also tearing your heart out.”

Some have offered solace in poetry. In Philadelphia, poet and social worker Trapeta Mayson, created a&nbsp;<a href="https://philadelphiacontemporary.org/projects/healing-verse-poetry-line" target="_blank">24-hour poetry hotline called Healing Verse</a>. Traffic to the Academy of American Poets’&nbsp;<a href="https://poets.org/" target="_blank">poets.org website</a>&nbsp;rose during the pandemic.

Brian Sonia-Wallace, poet laureate of West Hollywood, California, has traveled the country&nbsp;<a href="https://rentpoet.com/" target="_blank">writing poems for hire</a>. He imagines a memorial of a million poems, written by people who don’t normally write poetry. They would talk to those who are grieving and listen for points of connection.

“What we need as a nation is empathy,” said Tanya Alves, 35, of Weston, Florida, who lost her 24-year-old sister to COVID-19 in October. “Over two years into the pandemic, with all the cases and lives lost, we should be more compassionate and respectful when talking about COVID. Thousands of families changed forever. This virus is not just a cold.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652709604973.png" alt="COVID deaths by county. Not all states report the same information on COVID -Map courtesy John Hopkins Covid Research Center&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>COVID deaths by county. Not all states report the same information on COVID -Map courtesy John Hopkins Covid Research Center&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated PressThe U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million on Monday, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration.The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. It is roughly equal to how many Americans died in the Civil War and World War II combined. It’s as if Boston and Pittsburgh were wiped out.“It is hard to imagine a million people plucked from this earth,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, who leads a new pandemic center at the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s still happening and we are letting it happen.”Some of those left behind say they cannot return to normal. They replay their loved ones’ voicemail messages. Or watch old videos to see them dance. When other people say they are done with the virus, they bristle with anger or ache in silence.“‘Normal.’ I hate that word,” said Julie Wallace, 55, of Elyria, Ohio, who lost her husband to COVID-19 in 2020. “All of us never get to go back to normal.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652709580859.png" alt="Map courtesy John Hopkins " />
 <figcaption>Map courtesy John Hopkins </figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-native-americans-hispanics-d2234e9d7df7ca8026faf9f88c7baeac">Three out of every four deaths</a>&nbsp;were people 65 and older. More men died than women. White people made up most of the deaths overall. But Black, Hispanic and Native American people have been roughly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white counterparts.Most deaths happened in urban areas, but rural places — where opposition to masks and vaccinations tends to run high — paid a heavy price at times.The death toll less than 2 1/2 years into the outbreak is based on death certificate data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. But the real number of lives lost to COVID-19, either directly or indirectly, as a result the disruption of the health care system in the world’s richest country, is believed to be far higher.The milestone comes more than three months after the U.S. reached 900,000 dead. The pace has slowed since a harrowing winter surge fueled by the omicron variant. The U.S. is averaging about 300 COVID-19 deaths per day, compared with a peak of about 3,400 a day in January 2021.The largest bell at Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital tolled 1,000 times a week ago, once for every 1,000 deaths. President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered flags lowered to half-staff and called each life “an irreplaceable loss.”“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow,” he said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/12/statement-from-president-joe-biden-marking-one-million-american-lives-lost-to-covid-19/" target="_blank">statement</a>. “To heal, we must remember.”More than half the deaths occurred since vaccines became available in December of 2020. Two-thirds of Americans are fully vaccinated, and nearly half of them have had at least one booster dose. But demand for the vaccine has plummeted, and the campaign to put shots in arms has been plagued by misinformation, distrust and political polarization.Unvaccinated people have a 10 times greater risk of dying of COVID-19 than the fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.“To me, that is what is just so particularly heartbreaking,” Nuzzo said. Vaccines are safe and greatly reduce the likelihood of severe illness, she said. They “largely take the possibility of death off the table.”Angelina Proia, 36, of New York, lost her father to COVID-19 in April 2020. She runs a support group for grieving families on Facebook and has seen it divided over vaccinations. She has booted people from the group for spreading misinformation.“I don’t want to hear conspiracy theories. I don’t want to hear anti-science,” said Proia, who wishes her father could have been vaccinated.Sara Atkins, 42, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, channels her grief into fighting for global vaccination and better access to health care to honor her father, Andy Rotman-Zaid, who died of COVID-19 in December 2020.“My father gave me marching orders to end it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Atkins said of the pandemic. “He told me, ‘Politicize the hell out of my death if I die of this.’”Julie Wallace and her husband, Lewis Dunlap, had cellphone numbers one digit apart. She continues paying to keep his number. She calls it just to hear his voice.“It’s just so important to hear that sometimes,” she said. “It gives you a little bit of reassurance while also tearing your heart out.”Some have offered solace in poetry. In Philadelphia, poet and social worker Trapeta Mayson, created a&nbsp;<a href="https://philadelphiacontemporary.org/projects/healing-verse-poetry-line" target="_blank">24-hour poetry hotline called Healing Verse</a>. Traffic to the Academy of American Poets’&nbsp;<a href="https://poets.org/" target="_blank">poets.org website</a>&nbsp;rose during the pandemic.Brian Sonia-Wallace, poet laureate of West Hollywood, California, has traveled the country&nbsp;<a href="https://rentpoet.com/" target="_blank">writing poems for hire</a>. He imagines a memorial of a million poems, written by people who don’t normally write poetry. They would talk to those who are grieving and listen for points of connection.“What we need as a nation is empathy,” said Tanya Alves, 35, of Weston, Florida, who lost her 24-year-old sister to COVID-19 in October. “Over two years into the pandemic, with all the cases and lives lost, we should be more compassionate and respectful when talking about COVID. Thousands of families changed forever. This virus is not just a cold.”___

CDC: US deaths from COVID hit 1 million

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal hit and run have made an arrest.

Just before 3:30 a.m., Sunday, responded to a report of a motorcycle vs passenger vehicle at SE 6th Street and SE Chandler Street in Topeka, according to Police Lt. Jerry Monasmith.

Officers arrived on scene and found one victim in the roadway. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Following an investigation by the Topeka Police Department Accident Reconstruction Team, police arrested 23-year-old&nbsp;Geovany Arellano of Topeka, on requested charges of&nbsp;Murder in the 1st Degree, Aggravated Assault and&nbsp;Reckless Driving, according to Monasmith.&nbsp; Police have not released the victim's name.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652662672522.png" alt="Arellano-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Arellano-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal hit and run have made an arrest.Just before 3:30 a.m., Sunday, responded to a report of a motorcycle vs passenger vehicle at SE 6th Street and SE Chandler Street in Topeka, according to Police Lt. Jerry Monasmith.Officers arrived on scene and found one victim in the roadway. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.Following an investigation by the Topeka Police Department Accident Reconstruction Team, police arrested 23-year-old&nbsp;Geovany Arellano of Topeka, on requested charges of&nbsp;Murder in the 1st Degree, Aggravated Assault and&nbsp;Reckless Driving, according to Monasmith.&nbsp; Police have not released the victim's name.

Police: Kan. driver facing murder charge for crash with motorcycle

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting early Sunday morning that sent one to the hospital.

At approximately 2a.m., police were dispatched to a disturbance with shots fired near Lincoln and Crestway in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.

As officers arrived in the area, they located a 32-year-old man walking eastbound on Lincoln at Pershing with three gunshot wounds. EMS transported him to an area hospital for treatment of serious injuries. He is expected to survive, according to Macy.

Police investigators located a shooting scene in the 800 block of S. Crestway. The victim did not cooperate with investigators.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting early Sunday morning that sent one to the hospital.At approximately 2a.m., police were dispatched to a disturbance with shots fired near Lincoln and Crestway in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.As officers arrived in the area, they located a 32-year-old man walking eastbound on Lincoln at Pershing with three gunshot wounds. EMS transported him to an area hospital for treatment of serious injuries. He is expected to survive, according to Macy.Police investigators located a shooting scene in the 800 block of S. Crestway. The victim did not cooperate with investigators.

Police: Kan. man with gunshot wounds won't cooperate with investigators

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden urged unity Sunday to address the “hate that remains a stain on the soul of America” after a deadly mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, while state officials pleaded for federal action to end the ”uniquely American phenomenon” of mass shootings.

(Click below to watch the President's comments)

Addressing an annual law enforcement ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, Biden said he and his wife, Jill, pray for those who were shot “by a lone gunman, armed with weapons of war and hate-filled soul,” and their families.

Authorities say a white 18-year-old male in military gear opened fire on shoppers and workers at the supermarket on Saturday, killing 10 people, including a retired Buffalo police officer, and wounding three others. Most of the victims were Black.

Law enforcement officials said Sunday that the gunman had researched the local demographics while looking for places with a high concentration of Black people.

“We must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America,” Biden said at the 41st annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service honoring fallen law enforcement officers. “Our hearts are heavy once again, but the resolve must never, ever waver.”

“No one understands this more than the people sitting in front of me,” he added.

Biden, speaking at the ceremony for the second time as president, did not address the calls by New York officials — Gov. Kathy Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown — for strong federal action to end what Brown said is the ”uniquely American phenomenon” of mass shootings.

The president also did not mention gun control efforts that have stalled in Washington.

Brown expressed frustration that “thoughts and prayers” and pledges to act are offered after every mass shooting, only to be be blocked by “some on one side of the aisle.”

“It seems like there are those that believe owning a gun is more precious than the sanctity of human life,” the mayor told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So I think people all across this country have to rise up. They have to speak more loudly and more clearly that there must be gun control in this country. This is a uniquely American phenomenon. These mass shootings don’t happen in other countries across the world.”

Brown said he would like to see “sensible gun control.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said tighter gun measures are “a huge priority” for Democrats and the White House. She bemoaned the 60-vote threshold needed in the 50-50 Senate that has made it difficult to advance such legislation, but she pledged on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “we are not going away until the job is done.”

Hochul said most of the illegal guns being used on the streets of her cities come from other states. “We need a national response,” she told NBC.

“We need other states to step up. We need the federal government on our side,” said Hochul, a Buffalo native.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden urged unity Sunday to address the “hate that remains a stain on the soul of America” after a deadly mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, while state officials pleaded for federal action to end the ”uniquely American phenomenon” of mass shootings.(Click below to watch the President's comments)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F1912091172315320%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=343" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Addressing an annual law enforcement ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, Biden said he and his wife, Jill, pray for those who were shot “by a lone gunman, armed with weapons of war and hate-filled soul,” and their families.Authorities say a white 18-year-old male in military gear opened fire on shoppers and workers at the supermarket on Saturday, killing 10 people, including a retired Buffalo police officer, and wounding three others. Most of the victims were Black.Law enforcement officials said Sunday that the gunman had researched the local demographics while looking for places with a high concentration of Black people.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Jill and I will travel to Buffalo on Tuesday to grieve with the community that lost ten lives in a senseless and horrific mass shooting.&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1526003099529355264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“We must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America,” Biden said at the 41st annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service honoring fallen law enforcement officers. “Our hearts are heavy once again, but the resolve must never, ever waver.”“No one understands this more than the people sitting in front of me,” he added.Biden, speaking at the ceremony for the second time as president, did not address the calls by New York officials — Gov. Kathy Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown — for strong federal action to end what Brown said is the ”uniquely American phenomenon” of mass shootings.The president also did not mention gun control efforts that have stalled in Washington.Brown expressed frustration that “thoughts and prayers” and pledges to act are offered after every mass shooting, only to be be blocked by “some on one side of the aisle.”“It seems like there are those that believe owning a gun is more precious than the sanctity of human life,” the mayor told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So I think people all across this country have to rise up. They have to speak more loudly and more clearly that there must be gun control in this country. This is a uniquely American phenomenon. These mass shootings don’t happen in other countries across the world.”Brown said he would like to see “sensible gun control.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said tighter gun measures are “a huge priority” for Democrats and the White House. She bemoaned the 60-vote threshold needed in the 50-50 Senate that has made it difficult to advance such legislation, but she pledged on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “we are not going away until the job is done.”Hochul said most of the illegal guns being used on the streets of her cities come from other states. “We need a national response,” she told NBC.“We need other states to step up. We need the federal government on our side,” said Hochul, a Buffalo native.

🎥Biden urges unity to stem racial hate after weekend shootings

OVERLAND PARK -&nbsp; U.S. Senator Roger Marshall announced at a Friday press conference, a shipment of protective equipment to Ukrainian military forces&nbsp;provided by Kansas law enforcement. 

Among the protective equipment being donated were approximately 300 vests and 50 helmets. The equipment varies in size and level of protection but will be distributed to both military and law enforcement officials within Ukraine.

Senator Marshall was joined by Eudora Police Chief Wes Lovett; Mike Bergmeier, owner of ShieldAg; and Daniel Rauchholz, owner of Farmada – Kansans who were instrumental in the collection of the protective equipment.&nbsp;

“We have all been inspired by the courage and bravery of the Ukrainian people and very few days go by in my life that somebody doesn’t ask, ‘What can we do to help the people of Ukraine?’ All this equipment is a testament of what Kansans do when we come together – more than 300 vests and 50 helmets all donated from 20 different Kansas law enforcement departments and agencies. These donations will help military and law enforcement officials in Ukraine and save lives,”&nbsp;said Senator Marshall.

Donations of the protective equipment were collected from Carbondale Police Department, Colby Police Department, Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, Eudora Police Department, Fort Hays State University Police, Haven Police Department, Kansas Attorney General’s Office, Leavenworth Police Department, McPherson Police Department, Overland Park Police Department, Park City Police Department, Riley County Police Department, University of Kansas Office of Public Safety, Wellington Police Department, and Wichita State University Police Department.

Senator Marshall’s staff is working with the Ukrainian Embassy to ship the items to Poland and they will then be moved into Ukraine and provided to Ukrainian military forces.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652655599648.jpeg" alt="Protective equipment for Ukrainian military forces provided by Kansas law enforcement including, FHSU&nbsp; police and Colby Police Dept. (Photos by Sen. Marshall's office)" />
 <figcaption>Protective equipment for Ukrainian military forces provided by Kansas law enforcement including, FHSU&nbsp; police and Colby Police Dept. (Photos by Sen. Marshall's office)</figcaption>
 </figure>OVERLAND PARK -&nbsp; U.S. Senator Roger Marshall announced at a Friday press conference, a shipment of protective equipment to Ukrainian military forces&nbsp;provided by Kansas law enforcement. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652655740266.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Among the protective equipment being donated were approximately 300 vests and 50 helmets. The equipment varies in size and level of protection but will be distributed to both military and law enforcement officials within Ukraine.Senator Marshall was joined by Eudora Police Chief Wes Lovett; Mike Bergmeier, owner of ShieldAg; and Daniel Rauchholz, owner of Farmada – Kansans who were instrumental in the collection of the protective equipment.&nbsp;“We have all been inspired by the courage and bravery of the Ukrainian people and very few days go by in my life that somebody doesn’t ask, ‘What can we do to help the people of Ukraine?’ All this equipment is a testament of what Kansans do when we come together – more than 300 vests and 50 helmets all donated from 20 different Kansas law enforcement departments and agencies. These donations will help military and law enforcement officials in Ukraine and save lives,”&nbsp;said Senator Marshall.Donations of the protective equipment were collected from Carbondale Police Department, Colby Police Department, Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, Eudora Police Department, Fort Hays State University Police, Haven Police Department, Kansas Attorney General’s Office, Leavenworth Police Department, McPherson Police Department, Overland Park Police Department, Park City Police Department, Riley County Police Department, University of Kansas Office of Public Safety, Wellington Police Department, and Wichita State University Police Department.Senator Marshall’s staff is working with the Ukrainian Embassy to ship the items to Poland and they will then be moved into Ukraine and provided to Ukrainian military forces.

Kan. law enforcement donate more equipment to Ukraine military

DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal hit and run accident and asking the public for help to locate a van and driver that fled the scene.

Just after 5p.m. Saturday, police responded to a two-vehicle crash in the 1300 Block of East 1900 Road on the ramp over Kansas 10 Highway between Lawrence and Eudora, according to the Douglas County Sheriff.

According to a preliminary investigation, a 54-year-old man was driving a motorcycle northbound on East 1900 Road with a 9-year-old girl as passenger. As the approached the overpass, an unknown possibly a 2013-19 white Ford Transit van moved forward from the stop sign and the top of the eastbound off ramp from K-10 and into the intersection.

The van struck the motorcycle which overturned. EMS transported the man and the girl to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. He had serious but non life threatening injuries. The girl, who was wearing a helmet suffered critical injuries and died Sunday morning, according the sheriff's department.

Witnesses reported that after the collision, the driver of the white van proceeded down the ramp leaving its black front bumper cover behind and returned to eastbound K-10.&nbsp;

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Douglas Co. Sheriff.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652713174349.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal hit and run accident and asking the public for help to locate a van and driver that fled the scene.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">EAST 1900 Road Fatality Accident After further investigation, Sheriff&#39;s Office detectives now believe the vehicle that left the scene yesterday was a Ford Transit Connect XL Model 2013-2019, more likely a 2018-19. Anyone with info is asked to call the DGSO, 785-843-0250. <a href="https://t.co/NazzZWkS2O">pic.twitter.com/NazzZWkS2O</a>&mdash; Douglas Co. Sheriff (@DGSOSheriff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DGSOSheriff/status/1525963802629505037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Just after 5p.m. Saturday, police responded to a two-vehicle crash in the 1300 Block of East 1900 Road on the ramp over Kansas 10 Highway between Lawrence and Eudora, according to the Douglas County Sheriff.According to a preliminary investigation, a 54-year-old man was driving a motorcycle northbound on East 1900 Road with a 9-year-old girl as passenger. As the approached the overpass, an unknown possibly a 2013-19 white Ford Transit van moved forward from the stop sign and the top of the eastbound off ramp from K-10 and into the intersection.The van struck the motorcycle which overturned. EMS transported the man and the girl to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. He had serious but non life threatening injuries. The girl, who was wearing a helmet suffered critical injuries and died Sunday morning, according the sheriff's department.Witnesses reported that after the collision, the driver of the white van proceeded down the ramp leaving its black front bumper cover behind and returned to eastbound K-10.&nbsp;Anyone with information is asked to contact the Douglas Co. Sheriff.

Search continues for van in crash that killed 9-year-old Kan. girl

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Two men who participated in an elaborate phone scam that cheated people from across the nation have agreed to repay their victims but avoided time behind bars, Massachusetts prosecutors said.

Ajaykumar Chaudhari, 26, of Pownal, Vermont, and Jitendra Chaudhari, 29, of Williamstown, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in Berkshire Superior Court to larceny and attempt to commit larceny, according to a statement Wednesday from the office of Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington. They were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5a039563a11c5d22b1f1974d199a05ee">arrested in June 2020</a>.

The guilty pleas were filed by the court, meaning the defendants won't be sent to jail as long as they stay out of additional legal trouble.

They, together with a third defendant, have agreed to pay more than $200,000 in restitution. That&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-massachusetts-vermont-pittsfield-b6be2c31953b01374a93289866775db8">third defendant, Parth Chaudhari, pleaded guilty to the same charges in December</a>&nbsp;and was sentenced to time served. The restitution money has already been secured, prosecutors said.

All three men are members of the same family, the district attorney's office said.

“The victims in this case overwhelmingly supported a resolution that would return the most money in the most timely manner while sparing them, many of whom are aging and live out of state, from having to travel to Massachusetts to testify,” Harrington said in a statement.

The three men, sometimes posing as government employees, targeted about 20 victims, some of whom sent packages of cash, often to an address in Adams, Massachusetts, prosecutors said.

In one case, they told the victim their Social Security number had been compromised and they needed to send money to fix the problem, according to the DA's office. Victims came from multiple states including California, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia, prosecutors said.

Adams police started investigating in March 2020 after getting tips from out-of-state law enforcement agencies.

During the investigation, victims and law enforcement intercepted packages of cash together worth more than $100,000.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619452442605.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Two men who participated in an elaborate phone scam that cheated people from across the nation have agreed to repay their victims but avoided time behind bars, Massachusetts prosecutors said.Ajaykumar Chaudhari, 26, of Pownal, Vermont, and Jitendra Chaudhari, 29, of Williamstown, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in Berkshire Superior Court to larceny and attempt to commit larceny, according to a statement Wednesday from the office of Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington. They were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5a039563a11c5d22b1f1974d199a05ee">arrested in June 2020</a>.The guilty pleas were filed by the court, meaning the defendants won't be sent to jail as long as they stay out of additional legal trouble.They, together with a third defendant, have agreed to pay more than $200,000 in restitution. That&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-massachusetts-vermont-pittsfield-b6be2c31953b01374a93289866775db8">third defendant, Parth Chaudhari, pleaded guilty to the same charges in December</a>&nbsp;and was sentenced to time served. The restitution money has already been secured, prosecutors said.All three men are members of the same family, the district attorney's office said.“The victims in this case overwhelmingly supported a resolution that would return the most money in the most timely manner while sparing them, many of whom are aging and live out of state, from having to travel to Massachusetts to testify,” Harrington said in a statement.The three men, sometimes posing as government employees, targeted about 20 victims, some of whom sent packages of cash, often to an address in Adams, Massachusetts, prosecutors said.In one case, they told the victim their Social Security number had been compromised and they needed to send money to fix the problem, according to the DA's office. Victims came from multiple states including California, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia, prosecutors said.Adams police started investigating in March 2020 after getting tips from out-of-state law enforcement agencies.During the investigation, victims and law enforcement intercepted packages of cash together worth more than $100,000.

Two men admit to role in nationwide phone scam

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a weekend shooting in Wichita.&nbsp;

Just after 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a shooting call in the 500 block of South Lulu in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.

At the scene, police located a 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound. EMS transported him to an area hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

Officers learned that an unknown suspect shot the boy after the teen had approached the suspect's vehicle in front of the apartments on Lulu. The suspect vehicle then fled the scene southbound.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a weekend shooting in Wichita.&nbsp;Just after 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a shooting call in the 500 block of South Lulu in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.At the scene, police located a 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound. EMS transported him to an area hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.Officers learned that an unknown suspect shot the boy after the teen had approached the suspect's vehicle in front of the apartments on Lulu. The suspect vehicle then fled the scene southbound.

Police search for suspect who killed 16-year-old Kansas boy

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple charges after an incident in northeast Kansas.

Just before 10a.m. Friday, the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center broadcasted information regarding a woman attempting to jump out of a vehicle near SE 22nd Street and SE California Avenue, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

A deputy that was patrolling in the southeast part of Shawnee County responded to the area. She observed a red 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt drive towards oncoming traffic while passing multiple vehicles in an intersection.

The deputy immediately conducted a traffic stop near SE 38th Street and SE Adams Street. During the investigation, illegal narcotics were located.

The driver, Brent A. Haverkamp, 32, of Goff, Kan., was placed into custody and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The passenger, Amber K. Bloomquist, 30, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for two warrants for her arrest, one felony warrant and one misdemeanor warrant. Bloomquist was also booked on a requested charge of felony interference with law enforcement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652628706174.png" alt="Haverkamp" />
 <figcaption>Haverkamp</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple charges after an incident in northeast Kansas.Just before 10a.m. Friday, the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center broadcasted information regarding a woman attempting to jump out of a vehicle near SE 22nd Street and SE California Avenue, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.A deputy that was patrolling in the southeast part of Shawnee County responded to the area. She observed a red 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt drive towards oncoming traffic while passing multiple vehicles in an intersection.The deputy immediately conducted a traffic stop near SE 38th Street and SE Adams Street. During the investigation, illegal narcotics were located.The driver, Brent A. Haverkamp, 32, of Goff, Kan., was placed into custody and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.The passenger, Amber K. Bloomquist, 30, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for two warrants for her arrest, one felony warrant and one misdemeanor warrant. Bloomquist was also booked on a requested charge of felony interference with law enforcement.

Sheriff: Wanted Kan. woman tried to jump from moving car

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — “Y’all here to protect me,” the youth asked the officers, beseechingly. “Right?”

The 17-year-old’s foster father, unable to deal with a teen who seemed to be in the throes of schizophrenia, had called Wichita police. When they arrived, Cedric “C.J.” Lofton refused to leave the porch and go with them; he was obstinate but afraid, meek but frantic.

After an hourlong stalemate, the police lost patience. It was time to take him away -- by force, if necessary.

And so began the last two days of a life plagued by family dysfunction, brushes with the law, years in foster care and, finally, mental illness. The events leading to C.J.’s death, just a day short of his 18th birthday, would be captured on video; the result would be litigation, pleas for reform, cries that the system had failed yet another Black youth.

Authorities would decide against any prosecutions in connection with his death. But there were crucial errors, and vital holes in the safety net that had fatal consequences.

Owing to the hour, a team that included a mental health worker was unavailable to respond on that night last September; police alone responded. And C.J. was taken not to a mental hospital but to the county Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, where for about 40 minutes he was held face down, resulting in his death.

C.J. “went from crisis to death because we got involved,” said Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell.

“We all need to own what we did right and what we did wrong,” he added. “And the reality is there’s things that happened that were wrong.”

Friends who met C.J. in foster care described him as a goofball, fun loving, with a dark childhood that he hinted at but never talked about much.

“He would dance everywhere, just wiggly, just you know, no coordination at all. Just dancing just to dance,” said Skylar Mannie, 16, of Wichita.

But under the surface, she sensed anxieties. “He worried about making sure that he was safe, making sure everybody around him was safe and that they were good at all times.”

He was raised with the help of his grandmother. His father, Chadrick Lofton, racked up multiple convictions for domestic assault; one case sent him to prison for a year and a half when C.J. was 2, and after that, C.J. told friends, his father wasn’t around. His mother, Sarah Harrison, also had a criminal record, including a theft conviction in Texas that carried a 400-day sentence.

As he entered his teen years, C.J. was living with his mother in Junction City, a Kansas town of about 22,000 near the Fort Riley military base. In the summer of 2018, at age 14, he began to get in trouble.

He was accused first of using a stolen debit card, then with stealing a car and tools, court records show. At a football game that fall, he was caught with a BB gun and suspended from school; he was truant often, the court filings show.

Then, in November, he was accused of battery and stealing a video game from a Walmart and was sent to a juvenile detention facility. Court records noted that his “behavior is escalating and there is no parental control,” but he was released to his mother that December.

He broke curfew again and again. Ultimately, a judge signed an order removing Lofton from his home, noting there was “no parent/guardian present.” By August 2019, a court filing found that he was doing “very well” in foster care.

C.J. moved around at first, friends said. But in December 2020, he was placed in Wichita with a foster father that his friend, Marquez Patton, described as “one of the good ones.”

By all accounts, they got along. C.J.’s foster father told investigators that he had been doing fine in school and that there were no major issues until their final weeks together, according to a report by Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett.

The foster father, whose name hasn’t been released, declined an interview request through DCCCA Inc., a private foster care agency that contracts with the state’s Department of Children and Families.

During the pandemic-disrupted 2020-21 school year, C.J. became a favorite of Traci Kallhoff, a zoology teacher at Wichita Southeast High School. He was always asking questions, sometimes tossing a blanket over his head to liven up virtual instruction.

“Some of those kids, like when they’re kind of like that, you know, like a little ornery, but really just so full of life, they just kind of grab your heart,” she said, adding that they grew so close that he emailed over summer break and hugged her when classes resumed in the fall.

Patton, 22, met C.J. when they worked at the same McDonald’s. He said among other things, the pair bonded over music -- C.J. posted his own classic gangster rap on YouTube, full of references to shootings and bloodshed.

Indeed, C.J. had been part of a Junction City gang, friends said. “Gangs are like a family,” Patton said, but C.J. had vowed to leave that behind and “do better.” The lyrics were merely what sold, he told friends.

He started dating Kyanya Hardyway in June 2021. Her family “loved him,” she said, because he was so respectful. They went to the mall, the YMCA and church together.

Eventually, though, he started telling her and other friends that he was hearing things, that the world was going to end soon. It worried her. But she added: “I was just glad that he was just telling me stuff.”

Friends said C.J. planned to remain in foster care until he finished high school. But he was growing restless as he prepared to age out of the system. Two friends had already been forced from the foster placement after getting in trouble, Patton said.

Then, last August, his grandmother died in Texas. Cassandra Harrison’s death was a blow.

His foster father said when Cedric returned from the funeral in September, “it got progressively worse,” according to the prosecutor’s report. He described him as “paranoid.”

“He was really sad. He felt like he didn’t really have anybody,” said Angelee Phillips, an 18-year-old who also had spent time in foster care.

She said she knew he was smoking weed. His foster brothers also suspected he was doing drugs, possibly the synthetic marijuana known as K2, although none had witnessed it firsthand. Partly, their suspicions stemmed from his strange behavior; one foster brother heard C.J. saying that his classmates were robots intent on hurting him.

Tests conducted as part of the autopsy report came up positive for marijuana, nothing else.

By Sept. 22, the situation was escalating. C.J. walked away from school that day and his foster father called police to report him as a runaway.

“He has been telling people not to look in the mirror because it takes your soul,” he told a dispatcher, adding that C.J. thought security guards were secret agents that were spying on him and that he doesn’t want anyone to come into his room because he says the house is bugged.

Hardyway said he called her around 2 the next morning. She could tell he was outside, but he refused to tell her where.

“He was just telling me like he loved me and stuff and then he just hung up because his phone was about to die,” she recalled. They never spoke again.

When C.J. returned home around 11:30 a.m. that Friday morning, the foster father immediately took him to the county’s mental health provider for an evaluation. But they never made it inside.

“He started freaking out and then ran off on me again,” the foster father told police.

He said C.J. had mentioned “he can get access to a gun.” He suspected the teen had schizophrenia. Although C.J. hadn’t been diagnosed, a cousin had told the foster father that the condition ran in the family.

It was all too much. The foster father told a caseworker he couldn’t handle C.J. anymore.

C.J. didn’t realize that when he returned around 1 a.m. on Sept. 24. His foster father told C.J. to stay on the porch, that he was worried about him. He called police.

The community operates a program in which a mental health professional, a law enforcement officer and a paramedic respond to emergent mental health crisis. But it only operates from noon to 10 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays.

That meant the unit was not available when the foster father called, and police had to go instead -- one of the first big missteps, said Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse: “We’re expecting law enforcement to do way too much.”

Officers approached the house. What followed plays out on body camera video:

While the foster father attempts to reach the after-hours foster care contacts, officers try to persuade C.J. -- who was also sick with COVID-19 -- to let them take him to a mental hospital.

Over and over, for nearly an hour, they beg him to submit. C.J. offers to sleep outside. He points at things he alone sees, things that do not exist.

C.J., who had told his foster father that he feared police would shoot him, empties his pockets at one point -- apparently, to show the officers he is unarmed. Change clatters to the ground.

“We don’t want your stuff,” an officer tells him.

An officer asks him again about the hospital.

“The hospital,” C.J. says. “I thought you was talking about jail.”

The officer responds: “Not jail, just the hospital. ... I promise you we would go there.”

But C.J. will have none of it. At 2:15 a.m., officers call for assistance. The 5-foot-10, 135-pound teenager is still refusing to budge.

The sergeant who responded to the scene would later explain that he wasn’t willing to just leave C.J. alone outside, according to the prosecutor’s report: “We can’t walk away.”

This was another mistake, said Cruse and fellow commissioner Howell. “Where is this impatience coming from?” Howell asked.

In the video, C.J. screams and yells “help” over and over again as officers grab for his arms.

“This is illegal,” C.J. says. “Isn’t it?”

Breathing heavily, the officers order C.J. not to bite, they are there to help.

Eventually the officers restrain him in something called the WRAP, a device comprised of a locking shoulder harness, leg restraints and ankle straps. The sheriff’s office describes it as a way to restrain a person who is out of control so that they don’t hurt themselves or others.

C.J. is frantic. “They are going to kill me,” he screams, biting at the straps.

As the teen is carried to the police cruiser, he can be heard muttering, repeatedly, “Kill yourself.”

The destination was no longer the mental hospital. The sergeant later explained that he believed C.J. was too combative to take there, according to the prosecutor’s report.

Instead, the vehicle headed for the juvenile intake center. C.J. was accused of multiple counts of battering law enforcement officers.

“It shocks me how this child is telling you they are seeing things that don’t exist and an alternate decision, aside from taking him to the hospital, was made,” said Brittany Brest, a community psychologist who is overseeing a grant from the National Alliance on Mental Illness to better support Kansas inmates.

Even one of the officers can be heard questioning the change of destination during the drive, arguing that C.J. would fare better at the mental hospital.

“It fixes whatever is wrong with him,” the officer says. The officers C.J. bit, he said, were “putting themselves in positions of being battered” because they were putting their hands in front of his mouth.

A second officer responds, simply, “It is not our call.”

They pull into the juvenile center at 2:44 a.m. and multiple officers carry him inside. C.J. continues repeating “kill yourself” when he was removed from the WRAP restraint around 3:40 a.m. Officers cautiously back out of the holding cell, leaving C.J. alone inside.

A juvenile worker later opened the door to the cell and told C.J. he “won’t be here that long” if he cooperated with being weighed and fingerprinted.

C.J., though, was still agitated. He walked out of his holding cell and tried to grab a computer monitor from the intake counter, the prosecutor’s report said.

Surveillance video from inside the facility shows him resisting attempts to place him back in the cell. At one point, he can be seen punching one of the juvenile detention employees in the head, knocking his glasses to the ground.

The video, which contains no audio, shows detention workers wrestling him into the cell. The camera angle doesn’t offer a clear view of what happened next.

But the prosecutor’s office said staff shackled Lofton’s ankles around 4:29 a.m. and put him on his stomach on the floor a few minutes later. One worker held C.J.’s ankles, another his thighs and two others held down his arms.

C.J. struggled, saying he would “hex” staff and that he was Jesus, according to the report.

A worker can be heard calling dispatch: The teen needed to be taken to a hospital for mental evaluation.

Around 5:08 a.m., the workers managed to put C.J. in handcuffs so he would be ready to be transported when police arrived, according to the prosecutor’s report. He remained face down. The workers then heard what sounded like snoring; they assumed he had had tired himself out and fallen asleep.

But C.J. was far from fine. The snoring was likely agonal breathing, a common sign of cardiac arrest, explained Dr. Michael Freeman, a forensic epidemiologist who testified in the George Floyd case.

“I think the biggest problem here is that the people who do the restraint don’t understand how dangerous what they’re doing is,” he said.

C.J.’s COVID-19 infection also would “contribute and make it even more dangerous,” said Dr. Victor Weedn, a forensic science professor at George Washington University. Weedn said the problem is that people can’t breathe fast enough or deep enough when they are restrained face down to get rid of carbon dioxide, especially if they are under stress.

But the workers knew none of this, insisting later that they were using restraints that they had been taught. It took them about 5 minutes longer to notice something was wrong, roll C.J. on his back and start chest compressions, according to the prosecutor’s report.

They called for help. When the emergency crew arrived, he had no pulse. “I have one 17-year-old male post code red coming to you,” a paramedic called in, after the crew managed to restart his heart.

But his condition was grave, his blood pressure just 62 over 24. And two days later, he was dead. He never regained consciousness.

The final autopsy, released in December, listed C.J.’s cause of death as “complications of cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position.” The death was declared a homicide.

Andrew M. Stroth, the family’s attorney, said he is preparing a “robust legal filing,” describing what happened as “tragic on so many levels.”

Sedgwick County Corrections Director Glenda Martens also described what happened as “tragic” in a news conference but said that the corrections workers “acted well within the policy and the requirements of that policy” in restraining the teen.

Meanwhile, interim Wichita Police Chief Lem Moore said his department is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-kansas-wichita-4a5aacdb2d18f75894034eef86ebd90a">looking into the actions officers took</a>&nbsp;when booking the teen. The FBI also is investigating, and Kansas’ governor ordered a review of how the foster care system handled the case.

A task force assembled jointly by the city and county reviewed C.J.’s death. Its members, who include a local NAACP official and a 20-year-old youth organizer, recommended a series of changes, including improving training and mental health services.

Bennett, the district attorney, said he struggled with whether an involuntary manslaughter charge was justified, but concluded in January that the state’s “stand-your-ground” law prevented him from pursuing it because staff members were protecting themselves.

Robert Spitzer, author of “Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights,” said Bennett’s interpretation is a “perfectly logical application” of a law that he described as “deeply problematic.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642856231058.png" alt="Image from the security camera video released by Sedgwick County." />
 <figcaption>Image from the security camera video released by Sedgwick County.</figcaption>
 </figure>By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTHMISSION, Kan. (AP) — “Y’all here to protect me,” the youth asked the officers, beseechingly. “Right?”The 17-year-old’s foster father, unable to deal with a teen who seemed to be in the throes of schizophrenia, had called Wichita police. When they arrived, Cedric “C.J.” Lofton refused to leave the porch and go with them; he was obstinate but afraid, meek but frantic.After an hourlong stalemate, the police lost patience. It was time to take him away -- by force, if necessary.And so began the last two days of a life plagued by family dysfunction, brushes with the law, years in foster care and, finally, mental illness. The events leading to C.J.’s death, just a day short of his 18th birthday, would be captured on video; the result would be litigation, pleas for reform, cries that the system had failed yet another Black youth.Authorities would decide against any prosecutions in connection with his death. But there were crucial errors, and vital holes in the safety net that had fatal consequences.Owing to the hour, a team that included a mental health worker was unavailable to respond on that night last September; police alone responded. And C.J. was taken not to a mental hospital but to the county Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, where for about 40 minutes he was held face down, resulting in his death.C.J. “went from crisis to death because we got involved,” said Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell.“We all need to own what we did right and what we did wrong,” he added. “And the reality is there’s things that happened that were wrong.”___Friends who met C.J. in foster care described him as a goofball, fun loving, with a dark childhood that he hinted at but never talked about much.“He would dance everywhere, just wiggly, just you know, no coordination at all. Just dancing just to dance,” said Skylar Mannie, 16, of Wichita.But under the surface, she sensed anxieties. “He worried about making sure that he was safe, making sure everybody around him was safe and that they were good at all times.”He was raised with the help of his grandmother. His father, Chadrick Lofton, racked up multiple convictions for domestic assault; one case sent him to prison for a year and a half when C.J. was 2, and after that, C.J. told friends, his father wasn’t around. His mother, Sarah Harrison, also had a criminal record, including a theft conviction in Texas that carried a 400-day sentence.As he entered his teen years, C.J. was living with his mother in Junction City, a Kansas town of about 22,000 near the Fort Riley military base. In the summer of 2018, at age 14, he began to get in trouble.He was accused first of using a stolen debit card, then with stealing a car and tools, court records show. At a football game that fall, he was caught with a BB gun and suspended from school; he was truant often, the court filings show.Then, in November, he was accused of battery and stealing a video game from a Walmart and was sent to a juvenile detention facility. Court records noted that his “behavior is escalating and there is no parental control,” but he was released to his mother that December.He broke curfew again and again. Ultimately, a judge signed an order removing Lofton from his home, noting there was “no parent/guardian present.” By August 2019, a court filing found that he was doing “very well” in foster care.C.J. moved around at first, friends said. But in December 2020, he was placed in Wichita with a foster father that his friend, Marquez Patton, described as “one of the good ones.”By all accounts, they got along. C.J.’s foster father told investigators that he had been doing fine in school and that there were no major issues until their final weeks together, according to a report by Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett.The foster father, whose name hasn’t been released, declined an interview request through DCCCA Inc., a private foster care agency that contracts with the state’s Department of Children and Families.During the pandemic-disrupted 2020-21 school year, C.J. became a favorite of Traci Kallhoff, a zoology teacher at Wichita Southeast High School. He was always asking questions, sometimes tossing a blanket over his head to liven up virtual instruction.“Some of those kids, like when they’re kind of like that, you know, like a little ornery, but really just so full of life, they just kind of grab your heart,” she said, adding that they grew so close that he emailed over summer break and hugged her when classes resumed in the fall.Patton, 22, met C.J. when they worked at the same McDonald’s. He said among other things, the pair bonded over music -- C.J. posted his own classic gangster rap on YouTube, full of references to shootings and bloodshed.Indeed, C.J. had been part of a Junction City gang, friends said. “Gangs are like a family,” Patton said, but C.J. had vowed to leave that behind and “do better.” The lyrics were merely what sold, he told friends.He started dating Kyanya Hardyway in June 2021. Her family “loved him,” she said, because he was so respectful. They went to the mall, the YMCA and church together.Eventually, though, he started telling her and other friends that he was hearing things, that the world was going to end soon. It worried her. But she added: “I was just glad that he was just telling me stuff.”Friends said C.J. planned to remain in foster care until he finished high school. But he was growing restless as he prepared to age out of the system. Two friends had already been forced from the foster placement after getting in trouble, Patton said.Then, last August, his grandmother died in Texas. Cassandra Harrison’s death was a blow.His foster father said when Cedric returned from the funeral in September, “it got progressively worse,” according to the prosecutor’s report. He described him as “paranoid.”Friends saw the difference, too.“He was really sad. He felt like he didn’t really have anybody,” said Angelee Phillips, an 18-year-old who also had spent time in foster care.She said she knew he was smoking weed. His foster brothers also suspected he was doing drugs, possibly the synthetic marijuana known as K2, although none had witnessed it firsthand. Partly, their suspicions stemmed from his strange behavior; one foster brother heard C.J. saying that his classmates were robots intent on hurting him.Tests conducted as part of the autopsy report came up positive for marijuana, nothing else.By Sept. 22, the situation was escalating. C.J. walked away from school that day and his foster father called police to report him as a runaway.“He has been telling people not to look in the mirror because it takes your soul,” he told a dispatcher, adding that C.J. thought security guards were secret agents that were spying on him and that he doesn’t want anyone to come into his room because he says the house is bugged.Hardyway said he called her around 2 the next morning. She could tell he was outside, but he refused to tell her where.“He was just telling me like he loved me and stuff and then he just hung up because his phone was about to die,” she recalled. They never spoke again.___When C.J. returned home around 11:30 a.m. that Friday morning, the foster father immediately took him to the county’s mental health provider for an evaluation. But they never made it inside.“He started freaking out and then ran off on me again,” the foster father told police.He said C.J. had mentioned “he can get access to a gun.” He suspected the teen had schizophrenia. Although C.J. hadn’t been diagnosed, a cousin had told the foster father that the condition ran in the family.It was all too much. The foster father told a caseworker he couldn’t handle C.J. anymore.C.J. didn’t realize that when he returned around 1 a.m. on Sept. 24. His foster father told C.J. to stay on the porch, that he was worried about him. He called police.The community operates a program in which a mental health professional, a law enforcement officer and a paramedic respond to emergent mental health crisis. But it only operates from noon to 10 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays.That meant the unit was not available when the foster father called, and police had to go instead -- one of the first big missteps, said Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse: “We’re expecting law enforcement to do way too much.”Officers approached the house. What followed plays out on body camera video:While the foster father attempts to reach the after-hours foster care contacts, officers try to persuade C.J. -- who was also sick with COVID-19 -- to let them take him to a mental hospital.“Hell no,” C.J. says.Over and over, for nearly an hour, they beg him to submit. C.J. offers to sleep outside. He points at things he alone sees, things that do not exist.C.J., who had told his foster father that he feared police would shoot him, empties his pockets at one point -- apparently, to show the officers he is unarmed. Change clatters to the ground.“We don’t want your stuff,” an officer tells him.An officer asks him again about the hospital.“The hospital,” C.J. says. “I thought you was talking about jail.”The officer responds: “Not jail, just the hospital. ... I promise you we would go there.”But C.J. will have none of it. At 2:15 a.m., officers call for assistance. The 5-foot-10, 135-pound teenager is still refusing to budge.The sergeant who responded to the scene would later explain that he wasn’t willing to just leave C.J. alone outside, according to the prosecutor’s report: “We can’t walk away.”They decide to take C.J. forcibly.This was another mistake, said Cruse and fellow commissioner Howell. “Where is this impatience coming from?” Howell asked.In the video, C.J. screams and yells “help” over and over again as officers grab for his arms.“This is illegal,” C.J. says. “Isn’t it?”Breathing heavily, the officers order C.J. not to bite, they are there to help.Eventually the officers restrain him in something called the WRAP, a device comprised of a locking shoulder harness, leg restraints and ankle straps. The sheriff’s office describes it as a way to restrain a person who is out of control so that they don’t hurt themselves or others.C.J. is frantic. “They are going to kill me,” he screams, biting at the straps.As the teen is carried to the police cruiser, he can be heard muttering, repeatedly, “Kill yourself.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1633046927211.png" alt="CJ Lofton courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>CJ Lofton courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>___The destination was no longer the mental hospital. The sergeant later explained that he believed C.J. was too combative to take there, according to the prosecutor’s report.Instead, the vehicle headed for the juvenile intake center. C.J. was accused of multiple counts of battering law enforcement officers.“It shocks me how this child is telling you they are seeing things that don’t exist and an alternate decision, aside from taking him to the hospital, was made,” said Brittany Brest, a community psychologist who is overseeing a grant from the National Alliance on Mental Illness to better support Kansas inmates.Even one of the officers can be heard questioning the change of destination during the drive, arguing that C.J. would fare better at the mental hospital.“It fixes whatever is wrong with him,” the officer says. The officers C.J. bit, he said, were “putting themselves in positions of being battered” because they were putting their hands in front of his mouth.A second officer responds, simply, “It is not our call.”They pull into the juvenile center at 2:44 a.m. and multiple officers carry him inside. C.J. continues repeating “kill yourself” when he was removed from the WRAP restraint around 3:40 a.m. Officers cautiously back out of the holding cell, leaving C.J. alone inside.A juvenile worker later opened the door to the cell and told C.J. he “won’t be here that long” if he cooperated with being weighed and fingerprinted.C.J., though, was still agitated. He walked out of his holding cell and tried to grab a computer monitor from the intake counter, the prosecutor’s report said.Surveillance video from inside the facility shows him resisting attempts to place him back in the cell. At one point, he can be seen punching one of the juvenile detention employees in the head, knocking his glasses to the ground.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642880340757.png" alt="Image from the security camera video released by Sedgwick County." />
 <figcaption>Image from the security camera video released by Sedgwick County.</figcaption>
 </figure>The video, which contains no audio, shows detention workers wrestling him into the cell. The camera angle doesn’t offer a clear view of what happened next.But the prosecutor’s office said staff shackled Lofton’s ankles around 4:29 a.m. and put him on his stomach on the floor a few minutes later. One worker held C.J.’s ankles, another his thighs and two others held down his arms.C.J. struggled, saying he would “hex” staff and that he was Jesus, according to the report.A worker can be heard calling dispatch: The teen needed to be taken to a hospital for mental evaluation.Around 5:08 a.m., the workers managed to put C.J. in handcuffs so he would be ready to be transported when police arrived, according to the prosecutor’s report. He remained face down. The workers then heard what sounded like snoring; they assumed he had had tired himself out and fallen asleep.But C.J. was far from fine. The snoring was likely agonal breathing, a common sign of cardiac arrest, explained Dr. Michael Freeman, a forensic epidemiologist who testified in the George Floyd case.“I think the biggest problem here is that the people who do the restraint don’t understand how dangerous what they’re doing is,” he said.C.J.’s COVID-19 infection also would “contribute and make it even more dangerous,” said Dr. Victor Weedn, a forensic science professor at George Washington University. Weedn said the problem is that people can’t breathe fast enough or deep enough when they are restrained face down to get rid of carbon dioxide, especially if they are under stress.But the workers knew none of this, insisting later that they were using restraints that they had been taught. It took them about 5 minutes longer to notice something was wrong, roll C.J. on his back and start chest compressions, according to the prosecutor’s report.They called for help. When the emergency crew arrived, he had no pulse. “I have one 17-year-old male post code red coming to you,” a paramedic called in, after the crew managed to restart his heart.But his condition was grave, his blood pressure just 62 over 24. And two days later, he was dead. He never regained consciousness.___The final autopsy, released in December, listed C.J.’s cause of death as “complications of cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position.” The death was declared a homicide.Andrew M. Stroth, the family’s attorney, said he is preparing a “robust legal filing,” describing what happened as “tragic on so many levels.”Sedgwick County Corrections Director Glenda Martens also described what happened as “tragic” in a news conference but said that the corrections workers “acted well within the policy and the requirements of that policy” in restraining the teen.Meanwhile, interim Wichita Police Chief Lem Moore said his department is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-kansas-wichita-4a5aacdb2d18f75894034eef86ebd90a">looking into the actions officers took</a>&nbsp;when booking the teen. The FBI also is investigating, and Kansas’ governor ordered a review of how the foster care system handled the case.ADVERTISEMENTA task force assembled jointly by the city and county reviewed C.J.’s death. Its members, who include a local NAACP official and a 20-year-old youth organizer, recommended a series of changes, including improving training and mental health services.Bennett, the district attorney, said he struggled with whether an involuntary manslaughter charge was justified, but concluded in January that the state’s “stand-your-ground” law prevented him from pursuing it because staff members were protecting themselves.Robert Spitzer, author of “Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights,” said Bennett’s interpretation is a “perfectly logical application” of a law that he described as “deeply problematic.”Bennett agrees, calling on the Legislature to change the law and raising questions about nearly everyone involved in C.J.’s care, from the juvenile workers to the foster care system.“This,” he said, “should never have happened.”