lincoln police

The Mayor of Lincoln is asking for input from the public on who should be the city's next police chief. Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said the city will be hosting listening sessions and focus groups with residents on the skills and qualities they would like to see in the head of the department. The mayor said the goal is to "identify a police chief who best meets the unique needs of Lincoln's vibrant, diverse, and growing community." 

The Nebraska State Patrol plans to consolidate several Lincoln offices into one new headquarters building next year. The State Patrol said it expects to move into its new headquarters just northwest of where Interstates 80 and 180 meet in Lincoln next March. The move will allow the agency to have most of its Lincoln-based staff under one roof. After the move, the State Patrol’s headquarters staff, communications division, criminal investigation unit, carrier enforcement officers and most Lincoln-based troopers will all work out of the new building.

Police say they're investigating after a man reported $35,000 in medical supplies stolen from his Lincoln driveway. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the theft happened on the southeastern edge of the city around 4 p.m. Monday after the man had placed the boxed spinal implants and medical instruments by his garage to be picked up for shipping. Police say by the time FedEx showed up 20 minutes later, the supplies were already gone. The man reported the theft later that night.

The owner of the defunct Nebraska Auto Auction business has been charged with fraudulently financing more than $1 million worth of vehicles. Prosecutors charged 63-year-old Mark Cooley with theft by deception and he made his initial appearance in court on Wednesday. Lincoln Police said in court documents that Cooley improperly financed 80 vehicles worth $1,0430,220 between 2017 and 2019 with fraudulent information. Police said most of the vehicles had already been purchased by dealerships or financed by another company before Cooley borrowed money on them.

Lincoln Police closed down a bowling alley this weekend for violating the city’s coronavirus restrictions after the owner vowed to fight the rules requiring people to wear masks in public places. On Saturday, Lincoln Police enforced the local health department’s order to close Madsen’s Bowling & Billiards for violating restrictions related to the coronavirus outbreak. Officials have said that employees at Madsen’s Bowling & Billiards weren’t wearing face coverings, patrons were told that masks were optional and people weren’t far enough apart.

Demonstrations are continuing in Omaha following the death of George Floyd.  A group of protestors marched toward the Old Market last night. Nearly 125 people took part in a peaceful protest in North Omaha earlier in the day where a group of local pastors called for making a positive change through community involvement and peaceful means.

Demonstrations are continuing in Omaha in response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.  Hundreds gathered in the Old Market yesterday for a fourth day of protests, and Deputy Police Chief Ken Kanger joined demonstrators in a march.  At one point, someone threw a water bottle at officers and pepper balls were deployed.  Police say there were two gun-related arrests, and at least a dozen others were taken into custody. Omaha, Bellevue, La Vista, Springfield and Papillion all announced 8:00 p.m. curfews;  Lincoln implemented a 9:00 p.m.

A State of Emergency is issued in Omaha as protests continue in response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.  Mayor Jean Stothert announced the State of Emergency yesterday and it will last for 72 hours.  Omaha also implemented an 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew that started last night.  Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts has activated the National Guard to help maintain peace in Omaha. Demonstrations took place yesterday in North Omaha and the Old Market.  The North Omaha rally at the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation ended before the 8:00 p.m.

Police say someone threw a rock through a window of the downtown Lincoln headquarters of the Nebraska Republican Party _ the fourth act of vandalism at the office in two years. The state party’s executive director, Ryan Hamilton, said three people were inside Wednesday when the brick went through a window in his office. Hamilton was not in the office. Lincoln police spokeswoman Officer Erin Spilker said evidence did not indicate the vandalism was related to a political statement.

Nebraska prison officials say the hunt is on for an inmate who walked away from a low-level corrections center where he was serving up to 10 years for weapons and assault counts — including assault on a police officer. The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services says in a news release that 35-year-old Richard Reynolds walked away from the Community Corrections Center in Lincoln on Wednesday after removing an electronic monitoring device from his ankle. Officials say Reynolds was a little more than two years into his six- to 10-year sentence when he escaped.

The Lincoln Police Department says stolen car reports this year are the highest in almost two decades. Officials say there have been 431 cars reported stolen this year, the most since 469 thefts were reported in 2013. The department says most of the cases are located in north and central Lincoln. Authorities say of the 431 cars that have been stolen in 2019, only 17 haven't been recovered.

Dozens of bronze headstone flower vases have been stolen from a cemetery in Lincoln. Police say each vase was valued at $50, so the loss is estimated at $2,000. The thefts were reported Saturday at Lincoln Memorial Park. In October, about a dozen vases were also stolen from the cemetery. Police say the thief might try to sell the vases at pawn shops or scrap yards. They ask that anyone with information call police.

Police in Lincoln are warning the public of holiday scammers after they say a man lost forty-eight-hundred dollars. The 76-year-old victim told police he received a call from someone who claimed to be a Microsoft employee who told him his account was overcharged. Authorities say the scammer convinced the victim to buy thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards and give the codes to them over the phone. Officials want the public to know that businesses will never call and ask for payment in gift cards.

Lincoln police are on the lookout for a woman who stole a purse with about six-thousand dollars in cash in it.  Police say the suspect took the purse after it was left at the self check out at a Walmart on Wednesday.  Police have reviewed the surveillance video of the theft.  They say the suspect left in a white truck.

(Council Bluffs, IA)  --  A suspect is under arrest following a bank robbery in Council Bluffs.  Police say Brandon Bird allegedly robbed the US Bank near 34th and South Expressway yesterday morning.  Authorities spotted Bird a short time later attempting to break into a garage to steal a car, and they arrested him after he drove into a water-filled ditch.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in Iowa and Nebraska have responded to numerous vehicle crashes as the season's first widespread snow turned roads icy.

Police in Lincoln say they responded to more than a dozen crashes in the span of two hours because of the overnight snow.

The Iowa State Patrol says ice completely covered roads near the Interstate 80 and Interstate 880 interchange, and two semi-tractor trailers rolled over.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln residents will now be required to keep any firearms in their vehicles out of sight with the doors locked under a new city ordinance.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police are searching for a man who walked into a bank in Nebraska this week and tried to open a checking account with a fake $1 million bill.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say the death of a 22-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln student appears to be accidental. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that police found the body of Dane LeClair in downtown Lincoln around 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Officer Angela Sands says LeClair, of Pittsford, New York, died after falling from the fourth floor of a parking garage. She says that based on video surveillance footage, LeClair fell at around 3:40 a.m. and his death appeared to be accidental.

LINCOLN, Neb.

Police in Lincoln, Nebraska, are investigating an assault on a Muslim woman as a possible hate crime.

Police tell the Lincoln Journal Star that the 18-year-old victim was walking Wednesday night in west Lincoln when two white men approached her, made derogatory comments and threats and then knocked her to the ground and kicked her. No arrests had been reported by Thursday afternoon.

Police Chief Bliemeister said his agency "will not tolerate hate crimes."

(Lincoln, NE)  --  Lincoln police are cracking down on some designated drivers.  Police say they are focusing on areas including O Street, which on weekends is full of vehicles dropping off or picking up passengers.  Officers are ticketing drivers who break the law when they stop in the middle of the road.  Police say the crackdown is being done to ensure other drivers and pedestrians are safe.