Butler County

UPDATE: An Augusta Police officer injured after a chase in Butler County has been released from the hospital. In a tweet Thursday night, Officer Quinten Shoopman said he was resting at home. "Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers," he tweeted. Officer Shoopman was injured after his patrol car struck a pole while chasing a suspect accused of driving a stolen car. The suspect took off while the officer questioned the driver at a gas station.   See Photos of the Wrecked Squad Car & More The suspect also lost control of his car, wrecking near Kellogg and Santa Fe Lake Road.

A 19-year-old woman died in the hospital hours after her car was hit in Butler County.  The accident happened around 8:30 Monday morning at SW 12th and Butler Road, two miles south of Andover. Authorities say Wendy J. Garcia died after her car was hit. Police tell us a pickup t-boned a passenger car.  Investigators say a witness saw the car run a stop sign, but police say the sun may have been a factor. Three children in the pickup suffered minor bumps and bruises, but are okay.  The driver of the pickup is in serious condition.

A fire damaged the Hope Community Church, just east of Andover near 21st and I-35, Wednesday morning.  No one was hurt. A pre-school connected to the church was evacuated. Investigators say construction workers accidentally started the fire while doing welding on an addition to the building. An eyewitness says a spark flew up and caught the back of the church on fire. The building filled with smoke. Damage is estimated at around $45,000. People were allowed back inside the church, but firefighters say the building will smell like smoke for awhile.

Drivers traveling through Butler County this morning may have had to look twice. That is if they saw an object that almost looked out of this world. The Butler County Sheriff's Department escorted a military drone from the south end of the county through the east end. Sheriff Kelly Herzet and his deputies led the wide load along Highway 77 and Highway 400. He says the aircraft is traveling from California to Maryland. This isn't the first time a drone has made its way through Butler County, Herzet says one came through just last fall.

The Butler County Sheriff's Department indentifies the two people killed in a deadly crash in Butler County. Seventy-nine year old Mahmoud Alayan ran a stop sign crashing into the motorhome. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His daughter, 47-year-old Hafia Alayan, was in the vehicle with him. She also died at the scene. Both victims are from Wichita. The driver of the motorhome, a man from Derby, refused treatment. ------------------ Original Story, August 30 A crash Wednesday morning kills two people in Butler County.

Fire crews spent a good part of Wednesday afternoon working to contain a large grass fire in Butler County at SW 40th & Santa Fe Lake. Several structures were involved in the fire, including three barns of hay that fire crews will allow to burn to the ground. The cause of the fire is not yet known and the officials kept the fire contained at around a half-mile wide.

The Butler County Sherriff's Office has identified the man killed in a crash Saturday morning as 33-year-old Joshua Howard of Wichita. Howard died when his car rolled on Hwy. 54 just east of Santa Fe Road. ------------------------------ August 21, 2010 Butler County authorities are investigating after a fatal crash Saturday morning. It happened just east of Santa Fe Lake Road on Kellogg, but authorities aren't sure just when it happened.

The heat may be to blame for the death of a roofer who was working in Butler County.  Authorities say the 30-year-old man was working on a roofing job when he passed out late Monday. His co-workers were driving him to the hospital in Wichita when paramedics met up with them in east Wichita. The man was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

Fire crews put out three grass fires in Butler County Monday afternoon. The largest burned about ten acres and a burn near Douglass. No one was hurt. Crews stayed on the scene for several hours putting out hot spots. The fires come as Kansas and much of the country is dealing with record drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared more than half the counties natural disaster areas, including every county in Kansas.

Three people, including one child, are hospitalized after a late-night crash in Butler County.  It happened around 10:15 Thursday evening on Highway 54. A sheriff's deputy tells us a vehicle was slowing down to turn onto Santa Fe Lake Road when it was rear-ended by another car. An adult and child in the first car were rushed to a Wichita hospital in critical condition.  The driver of the second car was taken to the hospital in serious condition....

UPDATE: An Augusta Police officer injured after a chase in Butler County has been released from the hospital. In a tweet Thursday night, Officer Quinten Shoopman said he was resting at home. "Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers," he tweeted. Officer Shoopman was injured after his patrol car struck a pole while chasing a suspect accused of driving a stolen car. The suspect took off while the officer questioned the driver at a gas station.   See Photos of the Wrecked Squad Car & More The suspect also lost control of his car, wrecking near Kellogg and Santa Fe Lake Road.

UPDATE: A man who was hospitalized for a snake bite, does not appear to be suffering from injuries connected to a venomous bite. Hospital officials tell Eyewitness News the man was not bitten by a snake. However, he remains hospitalized in critical condition. ---- A man has been rushed to a Wichita hospital after suffering a snake bite. It happened in the 7200 block of SW 170th in Butler County around 4:10 p.m. Someone called 911 to report that a man in his 50s was bitten by a cottonmouth snake.

A child has been rushed to a Wichita hospital after being hit by a car in rural Butler County. Crews were called to the scene near 170th SW Street and Ohio St. Road around 5:15 p.m. Saturday. That's about 8 miles south of Augusta, and 5 miles northeast of Douglass. Details of the accident are unclear, but we do know the child suffered life-threatening injuries in the accident. Expect more information on air and online as it becomes available.  

If you're grumbling about the weekend forecast, you aren't alone. Some people want a piece of Punxsutawney Phil.  Authorities in Ohio have jokingly issued an indictment of the groundhog for his prediction spring would come early this year. Ohio is one place facing more snow this weekend. The prosecutor in Butler County, Ohio says Phil "did purposely and with prior calculation and design, cause the people to believe that spring would come early. " 

The Sedgwick and Butler County Sheriffs have just released new information on a shooting that sent a Sedgwick County Deputy and a suspect to the hospital Monday evening. It all started when the deputy saw a vehicle speeding and weaving in and out of traffic.  The deputy started following the white Cadillac and once the driver noticed the deputy he sped up.  A chase reached 90 to 120 mph and headed into Butler County on K-196.  The deputy described the situation on the radio and said the Cadillac started driving erratically.  When the deputy caught up with the vehicle, he realized the car was stopped and smoking and believed that the engine had blown.  The deputy said on the radio he believed the driver and a female passenger had gotten out of the vehicle.  The deputy then walked towards a hedgerow and minutes later he announced on the radio that he had been shot.

A rural Butler County couple heard the gunshots that likely struck a Sedgwick County deputy.  Sherry Babcock says she doesn't know how it started, but she heard gunshots Monday evening and then her husband ran into the house.  "We heard gunshots and then my husband came in the house," Babcock said.  "He was worried.  He says, 'Get the dogs in here and lock the… lock the doors.'" Then, through her kitchen window, she saw two people running....

A Sedgwick County deputy is recovering at the hospital this morning.  He's now listed in fair condition. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter and Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet are holding a press conference to release more information about the shooting. Investigators worked through the night to sort out the details.  We do know the man who shot the deputy was also shot by officers.  He's in critical condition and is being guarded at the hospital.  A woman was also taken into custody.

Butler county deputies arrest a burglary suspect after tracking him down in Andover. Lehman was caught Thursday afternoon after the owner of The Barn Guys found him hiding out in his shop. The suspect ran but police were able to make an arrest. Billy Page says he couldn't believe his eyes when he came to work at The Barn Guys Thursday morning. "I got close enough to see in the window, I seen the suspect dart out of the offices and run through the center part of the shop and out back," says Page.

An Iowa man is in a Wichita hospital after crashing his truck into an overpass in Butler County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the driver was about a mile west of Haverhill on Highway 54 when he fell asleep at the wheel. The 35-year-old somehow got wedged up underneath the overpass. Paramedics rushed him to a Wichita hospital with potentially critical injuries. A trooper tells us the man was passing through Kansas to Mexico.

A Butler County driver is in serious condition after rolling his car southwest of Augusta overnight. It happened just before 3:00 Thursday morning at Southwest Santa Fe Lake Road and 130th Street. The Butler County Sheriff's Office tells us the driver drifted off the shoulder, then over-corrected and rolled his car several times.  The driver was thrown from the car. He was rushed to the hospital for treatment. No one else was hurt.