Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report a two-vehicle hit-and-run crash occurred at around 8:51-p.m., Friday, near the S. Expressway and 30th Avenue. The suspect vehicle was described as being a red, Dodge Charger. At around 8:52-p.m., another hit-and-run crash occurred near the S. Expressway and 23rd Avenue, involving the same Dodge Charger.

The suspect vehicle continued northbound at a high rate of speed before losing control and colliding with a tree near the 600 block of S.  6th Street. A 3-year-old boy was pulled from the vehicle by responding police officers, and appeared to be unharmed. The female driver of the car was alive, but unresponsive. Both were transported to an area trauma center.

The case remains under investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Traffic Unit. Names were being withheld at the time of the police report. Anyone with information about the incident(s) are encouraged to call 712-328-4948.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – State and local fire investigators say faulty wiring in the basement of a funeral home in Red Oak, resulted in a fire that gutted the building’s interior. According to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, firefighters were dispatched to the Nelson-Boylan-LeRette Funeral Chapel at 410 N 6^th Street, in Red Oak, at around 4:30-a.m., Friday, after smoke was seen coming from the structure.

Law enforcement arriving on the scene minutes before the fire department, reported that the windows were hot and had begun to turn black. They also advised they could feel the heat coming from the building.

Elliott and Stanton Fire Departments were dispatched as part of  a mutual aid protocol that takes place when a working structure fire is confirmed. Firefighters from Shenandoah, Essex and Villisca responded as well, to help with salvage and overhaul operations, which concluded at around 9:30-a.m., Friday.

The building was deemed a total loss.

Emmetsburg, Iowa – On January 19, 2023, EMT’s responded to 1605 8th Street, Emmetsburg, Iowa for a call of an unresponsive child. 23-month-old Sebastian Jespersen was transported to Palo Alto County Hospital and then to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. On January 24, 2023, he was pronounced deceased.

An investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner revealed that Sebastian died of head trauma consistent with inflicted injuries.

As a result of the investigation, Sebastian’s daycare provider, Hannah Priest, 28, of Emmetsburg, was charged with child endangerment resulting in death under Iowa code section 726.6(1)(b), a class B felony. She is currently being held on a $50,000 cash only bond.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Link to Complaint and Affidavit

(Radio Iowa) – A Fort Dodge man was sentenced today (Friday) for his involvement in the death of his newborn daughter.
Thirty-two-year-old Brandon Thoma was originally charged with first-degree murder in the along with the child’s mother, Taylor Blaha. Thoma plead guilty to a lesser charge of child endangerment causing death and was sentenced to up to 50 years in prison, and also pled guilty to an abuse of a corpse charge and was sentenced to 10 years on that charge.

During his change of plea hearing, Thoma told the court that he removed the baby’s body from the apartment and threw it into a dumpster. Although area agencies searched for the baby’s body throughout downtown Fort Dodge and at the landfill, the body was not recovered.

Blaha pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and last month and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

(Radio Iowa) – The Department of Natural Resources has advised against swimming in 11 lakes across the state again this week. The D-N-R’s Jason Palmer in the Water Quality division says the return of wildlife and agricultural runoff toward the end of the season has created an elevated risk for all types of harmful bacteria. They look first for E-coli.

Palmer says birds in the water around the beaches have elevated the concern of possible bacteria.

The D-N-R held over last week’s advisories as they says the heatwave made it unsafe for workers to take new samples.

A Sioux City, Iowa nurse who stole fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone, and hydrocodone from her employer, pled guilty on August 30, 2023, in federal court in Sioux City.  Morgan Miralles, age 32, from Sioux City, Iowa, entered a guilty plea to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by means of misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge, and one count of false statements relating to health care matters.

In a plea agreement, Miralles admitted that she diverted the controlled substances that were supposed to be dispensed to patients, for her own personal use by falsifying documents, including the omission of information on required log entries tracking the disbursement of controlled substances. Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence investigation report is prepared.  Miralles remains free on bond pending sentencing.  Miralles faces a possible maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a year of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons and was investigated by the Iowa Department of Inspections & Appeals, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests:

There were two arrests on Thursday, (8/31) – 36-year-old Scott Eugene Jacobsen, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 12:35-a.m., for Possession of Controlled Substance, following a traffic stop on I-29 near mile marker 40.  Bond: $2,000; and, 38-year-old William Martin Shepard, IV, of Plattsmouth, NE, was arrested at around 11:48-p.m., following a traffic stop on 190th Street in Mills County. Shepard was charged with Driving Under Suspension.  Bond: $300.00

On Friday (Sept. 1st), 52-year-old Brian John Beebe, of Hastings, was arrested on 370th Street at around 12:30-a.m., and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance – Bond: $25,000.

(Radio Iowa) – April showers may bring May flowers but September is only bringing the heat. Forecasters say most of Iowa will have high temperatures in the 80s this (Friday) afternoon, but the rest of the Labor Day weekend will be unseasonably steamy. Meteorologist Brad Small, at the National Weather Service, says this hot spell will run Saturday through at least Tuesday. “Much of central Iowa, and much of the state for that matter, will be well into the 90s for highs all those days,” Small says, “and we may even touch 100 in spots on Sunday, not widespread but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few.”

There is a silver lining to this cloud, Small says, even though there are no rain clouds likely to be spotted for a while. “The humidity won’t be as oppressive as the previous heat episode, and there will be a little bit more in the way of wind with a south-to-southeast breeze in the afternoon,” Small says. “So those two things will make it feel a little bit better, but still, highs in the 90s is something we really need to be cognizant of and take some heat safety precautions.”

The prolonged heat wave last week saw upper 90s and low 100s for five straight days, including a host of new high temperature records, with Sioux City reporting a record heat index of 122.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a juvenile suspected in an Omaha homicide, was arrested Thursday a little before 5:30-p.m., in the Lake Manawa area. The unidentified suspect was taken into custody without injury, after the victim’s vehicle he was driving was tracked and a perimeter was established. Officers were coordinated in their search efforts by Omaha Police helicopter “Able 1.” A K9 unit assisted in the arrest.

The juvenile is suspected in the death of 43-year-old Juan Carlos Tobar-Abarca, who was found deceased in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Omaha, at around 3-a.m., Thursday. The incident remains under investigation, and no other names are being released at this time.

Other agencies assisted in the search and arrest, including: Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies; The Iowa State Patrol; Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Omaha Police.