(Radio Iowa) – Counterfeit medications are showing up in Iowa which federal authorities say are not only dangerous, they’re deadly. Mike Casele, a special agent with the U-S Drug Enforcement Administration’s Omaha office, says the fake pills are becoming all too common. “In these areas, as in many areas of the United States, we see a lot of meth,” Casele says. “We’re also seeing a lot of counterfeit pills. People are not getting these from lawful or legal means, through their doctor or pharmacy, and you just never know what you’re going to get with these.” Casele says most of the pills being found in Iowa originated across the southern U-S border.

“Typically, we’re seeing a lot of these counterfeit pills coming up from Mexico,” Casele says. “From there, they just scattered throughout the United States. They are landing literally everywhere. I’ve worked in many offices throughout the country and talked to agents across the country and there doesn’t seem to be an area where we’re not seeing them at least at some level.” More often, Casele says, the pills they’re finding contain very hazardous ingredients.

“It’s incredibly dangerous,” he says. “Out of the pills that the DEA seizes and that we send to our labs for analysis, four out of every ten of those pills test positive for a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, which is for an average person, about two milligrams.” Casele says the D-E-A is working with state and local law enforcement in an effort to slow the distribution of these illegal pills.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 8:30-p.m. Tuesday, of Kyla Smith, from Villisca. Smith was taken into custody in Villisca, on an active Montgomery County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and later posted a $300 cash bond before being released.

PERRY, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety have released a report on a shooting incident that took place early Tuesday morning. Authorities say at 4:47 a.m., officers with the Perry Police Department were dispatched to the 1800 block of 5th Street on the report of shots fired in the area. Officers found multiple bullet holes in an unoccupied vehicle. The suspect was identified as 30-year-old Jeremiah Messner.

At 6:27 a.m., near West 8th Street and Saint Paul Street, law enforcement officers from the Perry Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol located Messner, who was armed with a handgun. Officers negotiated with Messner and persuaded him to place the handgun on the ground. As officers attempted to take Messner into custody, he was able to regain possession of the handgun. During the struggle with officers, Messner fired his handgun striking Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn in the upper leg.

Chief Vaughn

Messner

Law enforcement officers took Messner into custody and rendered emergency care to Chief Vaughn. Messner was transported to the Dallas County Hospital; he has since been released to the custody of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Vaughn, a 28-year law enforcement veteran who has served as the Perry Police Chief since 2013, was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital where he remains. His injuries are non-life threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery.

At the request of the Perry Police Department and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is conducting an investigation into the shooting of Chief Vaughn. As a result of the investigation, DCI agents have charged Jeremiah Messner with four felonies: Attempted Murder (707.11; Class B), Possession of Firearm by a Prohibited Person (724.26; Class D), Going Armed with Intent (708.8; Class D), and Trafficking Stolen Weapons (724.14A(b), Class C).

(Radio Iowa) – Opening arguments began Tuesday afternoon, in the murder trial of Michael Lang of Grundy Center in the shooting death of Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith last April. During opening arguments streamed by K-C-R-G T-V, prosecutor Douglas Hammerand described how Smith and other officers entered Lang’s garage to arrest him. He says that’s when Lang turned on Smith with a shotgun.

“By the time Sergeant Smith saw him, he yelled ‘gun, gun’ and then you hear bang, bang,” Hammerand says. He says Lang fired again before Smith could be pulled to safety. “Then as he’s laying on the ground, we hear another bang. The defendant shot him again with the slug through his leg — it went through his back calf,” he says. He says another officer pulled Smith away but he died. Hammerand told the jury they will lay out why this is first-degree murder.

“The evidence will show the defendant acted with malice aforethought. The evidence will show the defendant acted willfully deliberately, and premeditatedly and with the specific intent to kill Sergeant Smith,” Hammerand says. Lang’s defense plans to use the state’s Stand Your Ground law and will argue Lang shot Smith in self-defense.

The trial was moved to Webster City due to pre-trial publicity.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials plan to set up a booth at the Iowa State Fair to recruit people to work in Iowa’s prison system. Iowa Department of Corrections director Beth Skinner recently hired a recruitment and retention officer for the prison system. “We’re trying to be creative. We’re trying to get out there. We’re still doing job fairs,” Skinner says. “We’re doing internship programs with colleges, so we’re still keeping our foot on the gas, but it has still been a major challenge.” Skinner says she’s currently focused on recruiting efforts at the high school and college level.

“It’s a career. You’re a public servant, you know, you’re giving back to your communities,” Skinner says. “It’s public safety.” The agency had just over 300 vacancies at the end of April and 71 percent of them were for correctional officers. The department’s website shows the starting salary for a full-time correctional officer is at least 43-thousand dollars a year.

Last week, Skinner told the Iowa Board of Corrections the agency was making progress system-wide in hiring nurses and the Newton prison, for example, had no job openings for nurses last Friday.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports several arrests since the beginning of the month:

On May 1st: Chance Lucas, age 32 of Harlan, was arrested for Driving while Revoked and an active Harrison County, IA warrant. Lucas was arrested during a traffic stop.

On May 2nd: Lee Miles, age 45 of Tabor, IA was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana, Possession of a Controlled Substance, (Methamphetamine), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Miles was arrested during a traffic stop in Tabor. Fremont County was assisted by the Mills County K9 Unit.

On the 4th: Malik Kyle, age 21 of Sidney, IA was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Kyle was arrested during a traffic stop

On May 6th: Carson Cusick, age 43 of Sidney, IA was arrested for Theft 1st Degree. Cusick was arrested in connection to the theft of a fountain valued in excess of $75,000 from a residence in rural Sidney.

On the 9th: Brandon Bogard, age 21 of Sidney, IA, was arrested for Public Intoxication. Bogard was arrested in connection to a call for service of an unconscious male in a gas station parking lot in Sidney;  Eric Hamilton, age 49 of Council Bluffs, IA, was arrested for OWI 1st Offense. Hamilton was arrested during a traffic stop.

On May 10th: Robert Watts, age 43 of Tabor, IA was arrested for Child Endangerment and Domestic Abuse. Watts was arrested during a call for service in Tabor; and, Kevin Wolford, age 66 of Tabor, IA, was arrested on an active warrant for Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana). During the course of the arrest he was found again in Possession of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia.

Wolford

Watts

Miles

Kyle

Hamilton

Cusick

Bogard