LYNDON, Kan. – A Pomona teen was transported to the hospital Monday afternoon after a rollover accident on state Highway 68 south of Lyndon, while his passenger escaped with minor injury.

According to a Kansas Highway Patrol report, Wesley R. Ecord, 15, Pomona, was driving a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado pickup and rounded the corner at K-68 and Adams Road, when the vehicle left the roadway for an unknown reason, overturned and came to rest in the east ditch on its passenger side.

Ecord was injured in the accident and transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Mo. A passenger in the truck, Jacob Norris, 15, Lyndon, was reported as having possible injury, but he was not transported by ambulance. Both teens were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.

A Carbondale teen appeared in Osage County District Court today, accused of making a threat that resulted in the closure of all schools in USD 434 on April 20, 2017.

Devin M. Culbertson, 15, of Carbondale, made his first appearance on a charge of aggravated criminal threat Thursday morning, accompanied by his parents, Benjamin and Michelle Culbertson.

The complaint filed by Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones alleges that Devin Culbertson communicated “a threat to commit violence, with the intent to place another in fear, or to cause the evacuation, lock down or disruption in regular ongoing activities of any building, place of assembly … or in reckless disregard to the risk of causing such fear or evacuation, lock down or disruption in regular ongoing activities …”

In a press release about the arrest of an unidentified student the evening of April 19, Osage County Sheriff Laurie Dunn said the threat that caused the closure of the school was made verbally.

“This was a verbal threat, no weapons or explosives were involved,” Dunn said in the release.

The sheriff reported her office was made aware of the threat around 6 p.m. that evening, followed by the arrest of a 15-year-old male student at 7 p.m. The sheriff said the entire school district closed April 20 due to the threat.

During today’s hearing, Osage County Magistrate Judge Taylor Wine told Culbertson that as a juvenile, state law required that he be represented by an attorney, giving him the option of hiring an attorney or having the court appoint one. Culbertson requested a court-appointed attorney, and the judge appointed attorney Jack Hobbs to represent him, and set the next hearing date for July 27.

Wine advised Culbertson the charge filed against him would be considered a severity level 5 person felony, with a penalty up to 36 months in prison if the crime had been committed by an adult.

OSAGE CITY, Kan. – Osage City Police Chief Fred Nech has reported in a Facebook post that a man died early Wednesday morning in a work related accident at ORBIS Corporation, in Osage City, Kan.

According to the post, about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 31, 2017, the police were called to ORBIS’s plant at 515 S. Fifth St., Osage City. Upon arrival, officers found Ruben Guadlaupe Chavira, 53, Topeka, deceased.

“The apparent cause of the accident was a forklift Mr. Chavira was operating pinned him against other equipment, causing fatal injuries,” Nech said in the post.

The post said another employee had discovered the accident. Chavira was employed as a press operator and backup grinder.

The accident is under investigation by the county coroner, ORBIS and OSHA, according to the police department.

The Osage County Sheriff’s Office reported in a social media post today, May 25, 2017, that emergency sirens in Osage City were accidentally sounded at 4 a.m. this morning due to a dispatcher’s error.

According to the post, outdoor warning sirens for Osage City were inadvertently activated as a dispatcher was paging out a medical call. As soon as the mistake was discovered, the sirens were deactivated.

“We apologize for inconveniences this caused,” the post said. “We will be making changes to the radio console to make it more difficult for this mistake to happen in the future.”

The sheriff’s office post also asked citizens to not call 911 whenever the sirens sound.

“This morning, multiple 911 calls came in regarding the sirens while dispatchers were handling a true emergency call,” the post said.

Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones has released the following information about convictions and sentencing in Osage County District Court last week.

OLIVET, Kan. – A Topeka woman was transported by helicopter ambulance to a Topeka hospital after a late night single-vehicle crash near Olivet last week.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Stephanie R. Wright, 32, Topeka, was driving a 2006 Jeep Commander SUV southbound on U.S. Highway 75 about two miles east of Olivet, around 11:31 p.m. May 4, 2017, when the vehicle drifted off the right the roadway and struck a guardrail. After hitting the guardrail, the vehicle continued off of the road, coming to rest in the west ditch.

TOPEKA, Kan. – A former teller at a bank in Burlington, Kan., was sentenced May 5, 2017, to 51 months in federal prison for embezzling from the bank, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Denise Christy, 48, Burlington, was convicted in a jury trial in January on one count of embezzlement, six counts of making false bank entries, six counts of filing false tax returns and six counts of money laundering.

During trial, the prosecutor presented evidence the crimes were committed while Christy worked as a retail financial services representative and backup vault teller for the Burlington branch of Central National Bank.

One of Christy’s duties was to sell cash in the bank’s vault to the Federal Reserve Bank. In May 2014 auditors determined that more than $700,000 was missing from the vault. Christy falsely claimed the money was shipped to the Federal Reserve Bank via the Garda security company. An investigation showed Christy falsified bank records to cover up the embezzlement and failed to report the embezzled funds as part of her income. In addition, she unlawfully conducted financial transactions in order to spend more than $77,000 in embezzled funds to pay off loans that she and her husband maintained at Farmers State Bank in Aliceville, Kan.

As part of her sentence, Christy was ordered to pay more than $850,000 in restitution.