Police in Harlan arrested six individuals over the course of the past week. On Sunday, 20-year old Dylan Hansen, of Harlan, was taken into custody on an active Shelby County warrant for delivery of a controlled substance. He was being held in the Shelby County Jail on $50,000 bond.

On Saturday, two juveniles were arrested following an investigation in reference to checks that were stolen from a residence in the 1400 block of Onyx Drive. 16-year old’s Brenden Ballantyne  and Justin Dickinson, both of Harlan, were taken into custody. Dickinson was charged with theft 5th and five counts of felony forgery. Ballantyne was charged with seventeen counts of felony forgery. The teens were cited and then released to a parent. Their cases will be referred to Juvenile Court.

On Feb. 6th, 28-year old Justin Beck, of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic accident at 6th and Victoria. Beck was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. And, on Feb. 5th, 23-year old Jeremy Bias and 35-year old Jeffrey Simpson, both of Harlan, were arrested when officers were investigating a fire under the Highway 44 bridge east of Harlan. As a result of the investigation Bias and Simpson were located and found to be in possession of several articles reported stolen from four Harlan churches. Bias and Simpson were transported to the Shelby County Jail. Simpson was charged with 4 counts of burglary 3rd, 2 counts of criminal mischief 5th degree, criminal mischief 3rd degree, possession of stolen property, ongoing criminal conduct, and trespass. Bias was charged with possession of stolen property.

Authorities report also, 50-year old Janis Scheffler, of Harlan, was cited last week for allowing a dog to run at large, 5th offense, when animal control officers found the dog running at large in the area of 8th and Willow.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested this week for violating the terms of their probation. 35-year old Dayton Ernest Tuper II, of Malvern, was arrested Monday night in Malvern, and 35-year old Antwan Darnail Hunt, of Glenwood, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. Hunt was being held in the Mills County Jail on $5,000 bond, while Tuper was being held without bond.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested Tuesday night for violating the terms of Iowa’s Sex Offender Registry.

Robert Andrew Hall (photo from the IA Sex Offender Registry)

25-year old Robert Andrew Hall, of Coin, was arrested in Amity Township at around 7-p.m. for the offense, which is an aggravated misdemeanor. Hall was being held without bond in the Page County Jail, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Hall was convicted in Decatur County in June 2008, on two counts of Assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports an incident about a suspicious good Samaritan motorist occurred earlier this week. Sheriff Lyle Palmer says at around 4-p.m. Tuesday, his office received a call from a southwest Iowa resident, who reported that on Monday, February 10th at around 5-p.m., they were traveling north on Highway59 just north of Shenandoah, when a cream colored car got behind them.  The car was flashing headlights from bright to dim attempting to get them to stop. 

The caller said they pulled their vehicle to the shoulder, stopped and locked the vehicles’ doors.  They went on to say that a male in his early 20’s approached their vehicle and told the driver their front tire was about to fall off.  The caller reached for their cell phone at which time the male ran back to his cream colored car and sped off.  The caller told authorities that there was nothing wrong with their vehicle. 

The only information given about the suspect is a male in their 20’s driving a cream colored car.  Sheriff Palmer said the incident should serve as a reminder to motorists about situations that can be avoided by doing just what the caller did with their cell phone and locking their doors.  If the suspect had truly been a good citizen telling the caller about a possible issue with their vehicle’s safety, they probably wouldn’t have minded the caller using their cell phone to call for assistance. 

Palmer says this is the only case that has been reported to the Sheriff’s Office at this time.  He reminds residents and motorist to ALWAYS report these types of incidents WHEN they occur, as a Law Enforcement broadcast can be made and it is more likely that the suspect can be stopped and questioned.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports they have received several complaints of phone scams where callers are attempting to obtain personal information from individuals for financial gain.  The callers sometimes do already have information about person’s credit / debit cards or bank accounts and are attempting to gain PIN numbers claiming they can offer better interest rates etc.

Sheriff Lyle Palmer says area residents need to be wary about these types of calls and it is not recommended to give out this type of information over the phone.  It is also not recommended that any personal information be given out as if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Once personal information is given out, it is usually too late to stop some of the charges that will be assessed to accounts.  This will usually leave the person in more financial turmoil than they were in prior to the call.

The Sheriff’s Office along with all other Law Enforcement agencies receives calls of scams numerous times a week.  Fortunately most of the Page County residents reporting these scams recognize them as just that, scams.  However there are some Page County residents that have been “taken” by these scams and usually loose thousands of dollars when it happens.  These scams are virtually impossible to solve and harder to recover lost funds.  Most of the calls come from out of the United States.  Callers have developed a way to appear to be calling from a phone number within the United States, but are actually physically located outside of our borders.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Grants will enable a community group to plant trees along a three-mile stretch of a busy Council Bluffs street.  The North Broadway Alliance says it’s received $55,000 from various organizations to complete the project. Volunteers will help with the plantings, which will take place when the weather is better.

The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports the trees will be planted three-deep, with ornamentals nearest the street and larger trees behind. Organizers say the project will bring residents together.  The North Broadway Alliance is a grassroots group comprised of neighborhood associations.