In an update a story we brought you on Feb. 18th, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Saturday (today), reports a man accused of pushing a co-worker off the top of a grain bin in southwest Iowa, who was found in Mexico and returned to the United States, is now being held in the Fremont County Jail, after being extradited from Texas.

Pedro Andrade

37-year old Pedro Andrade, of Muscatine, faces charges that include Attempted Murder, a Class B Felony, Willful Injury a Class C Felony, and Flight to Avoid Prosecution, a Class D Felony. He was being held without bond in the Fremont County Jail, pending an appearance before a Magistrate.

Last month, officials with the U.S. Marshals Service said Andrade was taken into custody with the assistance of Mexican authorities, outside Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (about 3 hours west of Cancun), and extradited to Houston, Texas.

Background:

On Oct. 10th, 2019 the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office received a call at around 12:43-p.m., about a male construction worker who had fallen approximately 60 feet, or 5 1/2 stories, from the catwalk above an industrial grain bin in the 300 block of Washington Street, in Hamburg, and was unconscious. The man was transported to Grape Community Hospital and then transferred to Nebraska Medicine for treatment of life threatening injuries.

Four days later, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office received a report that the man had awoken from a coma and said he was pushed from the platform by a co-worker, Pedro Andrade. Deputies allege that Andrade, had unhooked the victim’s safety lines and pushed him from the catwalk, onto a gravel parking lot after discovering an affair between the victim and Andrade’s wife.

Andrade was contacted and agreed to meet with deputies, however, the sheriff’s office received information that Andrade and his wife fled the country prior to the interview. Deputies received an arrest warrant for Andrade and the information was sent to the US Marshall’s Service for assistance.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Democratic Party State Central Committee has certified the results of the 2020 presidential caucuses, nearly a month after a faulty mobile app and other problems delayed counting and prompted calls for Iowa to lose its first-in-the-nation status. Iowa awards 41 national delegates in its caucuses.

Following today’s (Saturday’s) certification of the Feb. 3 caucuses, Buttigieg had 14 delegates and Sanders had 12. Elizabeth Warren won eight, Joe Biden won six and Amy Klobuchar won one. The Associated Press opted not to call a winner, given remaining concerns about whether the results as reported by the party were fully accurate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say a suspect has been arrested in the death of a 71-year-old woman who was the victim of a hit-and-run as she crossed a Des Moines street last month. Police say in a news release that 41-year-old Isaias Flores-Morales was arrested Thursday in Illinois on suspicion of leaving the scene of a fatal crash, escaping custody and other counts in the death of Stephanie Markert.

Markert died a week after being hit on Jan. 30 near the Drake University campus, where first responders found her in the street with critical injuries. Police say she was the house mother for Delta Gamma sorority at Drake.

Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle reports, the Party’s Distribution of Winter Clothing in December had to be postponed due to illnesses, weather, and lack of transportation. “But WE’RE BACK!”

Toelle says the Final Distribution of the clothing will take place in March, at two sites, on a first-come, first-served basis:

• Lewis Community Center—Saturday, March 14th, from 3 PM to 4 PM.
• Care & Share Food Pantry—Wednesday, March 18th, from 4 PM to 5:30 PM.

The items are open to all communities in Cass County. If the clothing is not given away as of March 18th , remaining items will be taken to West Central’s Community Action Building in Atlantic.