The Police Chief in Bedford released a statement Saturday criticizing the writer of an article in the Des Moines Register, with regard to an incident which led to a Bedford High School student being hospitalized in critical condition, after suffering from a brain injury.

Police Chief Jeremy Holben said Kyle Munson’s article in Saturday’s paper was wrong when he said Bedford Police were not involved in an investigation of the alleged bullying incident involving 16-year old Kacey Strough, a Bedford student and football player. Holben said Munson never spoke with him or any of the officers on the Bedford Police force prior to publishing the story. The Chief said there is an active investigation into the incident, one that has been underway since it was reported two weeks ago.

In his article, Munson quoted family members who stated that Strough’s condition was the result of bullying by teammates. Holben said because of Strough’s medical condition, officers have not been able to interview him about the incident.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Sunday night, of 34-year old Justin Wayne Swartz, of Grant. Swartz was charged with Child Endangerment and Simple Domestic Assault, following an incident that occurred at around 9:50-p.m., during which he allegedly hit a residence in the 300 block of 1st Street in Grant, with a skidloader. Swartz was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond. The Iowa State Patrol, along with Deputies from Cass County and Officers with the Iowa DNR, assisted at the scene.

Two people were injured, one of them seriously, during a collision Sunday northeast of Viking Lake State Park, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say22-year old Bradley Lee Dumler, of Villisca, was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha by Mercy 3 helicopter, following the crash that happened at around noon, Sunday, near the intersection of 220th Street and S Avenue.

Dumler was a passenger in a 2007 Chrysler HHR driven by 25-year old Melissa Lynn Dumler, also of Villisca. Authorities say the couple was traveling west on 220th, when the vehicle hit loose gravel at the bottom of a hill. The vehicle went out of control and entered the north ditch, where it rolled several times before coming to rest on its wheels in a field. Melissa Dumler suffered minor injuries. She was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital by Red Oak Rescue, treated and released. The vehicle was a total loss.

No injuries were reported following a collision between a pickup and an SUV Sunday afternoon, east of Red Oak. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened at around 12:45-p.m., at the intersection of Highway 34 and 200th Street. Official say a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 40-year old Shelly Rae Jennings, of Red Oak, was stopped at the intersection, when her vehicle was rear-ended by a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica, driven by 32-year old Elizabeth Susan Hausen, of Clarinda. Hausen told authorities she was having mechanical problems with the SUV at the time of the impact. Damage to the vehicles was estimated at $2,000 each.