Jail

A Wichita police officer arrested and charged with sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery, while on duty and in uniform, is out of jail. The Sedgwick County Jail shortly confirmed that Jospeh McGill is no longer in its custody. McGill is accused of inappropriately touching one person back in November and doing the same thing at the end of February. McGill is scheduled to be back in court on March 16.

A weekend saturation patrol has landed nearly three dozen people in trouble with the law.  Sedgwick County deputies made eight arrests and wrote 26 tickets during the four-hour patrol overnight Saturday into Sunday. Deputies booked five drivers for driving under the influence, another two for driving while their licenses were suspended and another person spent the weekend in the klink on an outstanding warrant. One sergeant, four deputies and two reserve deputies participated in the saturation patrol.

The voice on the other end sounded familiar and desperate for help. As easily as she picked up the phone, Gloria Barrientez, 74, fell victim to a popular scam that often targets senior citizens. "He needed bail money ," she said of the man on the phone.  Barrientez was sure she recognized his voice. It sounded just like a young man who goes to her church and is friends with her grandson. Instead, it was a scam artist who cooked up an elaborate story about being arrested in Canada.

Sedgwick County Sheriff's investigators say they have determined that the report of a stabbing at the county jail Wednesday morning was a false report. They have arrested 24 year old jail employee Shaun Cook. Cook has been booked into the jail on charges of making a false police report and possession of contraband in a penal institution. Formal charges will be decided on by the District Attorney's office.

Attorneys for alleged victims of jail abuse at the Sedgwick County Detention Center are asking for monetary damages in the amount of $20 million. Click Here to Read Court Filing FactFinder 12 filed an Kansas Open Records Request last week for the official copy of the "Notice of Claim" filed with the Sedgwick County Clerk's Office.   There are two separate claims relating to deputy David E. Kendall, both dated July 24, 2012, and both asking for $10 million in damages.

A man released from the Saline County Jail last week for his mother's funeral, still has not returned. Officials in Saline County are asking for the public's help to find Scott Cordell. Our news partners at The Salina Journal report that Cordell had been in jail since November, after he failed to appear in court in a drug case. The Journal reports that officials let Cordell out at 8:00 Friday morning to attend his mother's funeral in McPherson County. He was supposed to return by 3:00 on Friday afternoon, but has not been seen since.

Update: The Wichita Police Department says that Destiny Allen, the suspected church purse thief, is now in jail. On Wednesday, a Sheriff's deputy was driving and noticed a vehicle similar to one that was stolen from a parking lot at 2400 block of S. Greenwood. The car was parked in front of a home. The deputy confirmed that the vehicle was stolen and executed a search warrant at the location. Police found stolen property and arrested 32 year-old Destiny Allen on previous warrants.

The driver who police say struck a landscaper in Northeast Wichita Friday, then drove home with the man's body on top of his mini-van, is out of jail on bond. 67-year-old Dr. Mohammad Sarrafizadeh, was booked Friday night on a single count of Failure to Stop at an Injury Accident.  The crime is felony under Kansas law because a person was killed. Sarrafizadeh is a Radiologist at the Dole VA hospital in Wichita. Calls Saturday to the VA hospital and to the doctor's home were not returned.

Outside of the Wichita area, some of the most significant storm damage happened in Rice County.  That includes damage to the county jail and a large feedlot that could take months to repair. Picking up and starting fresh, it's something that can be tough to do on your own.  "You can't do it by yourself.  We couldn't do it with the crew that we had," said Kevin Dwyer with Sellers Feedlot. Photos of Damage to Feedlot Luckily for the business, the Rice County community is helping them clean up after Saturday's tornado.  "Unbelievable amount of support and help from the community and from the other feed yards in the county," he said.

James Conklin, a 19 year veteran with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office, has been charged with two counts of unlawful sexual relations. On October 9th, two male inmates reported being fondled by Conklin at the work release facility on Harry and McLean in south Wichita. Conklin was charged and suspended without pay on December 8th. Sheriff Jeff Easter, who took office after the alleged incident, held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the charges. He also talked about what he calls "sweeping changes" in the jail to prevent incidents like this one and other issues at the jail.

A Reno County jail deputy has been arrested, accused of sex crimes against inmates. Sheriff Randy Henderson said Jonathan Diaz was booked into jail on two counts of unlawful sexual relations with an inmate, two counts of aggravated intimidation of a victim and two counts of bribery. Henderson said the arrest stems from an internal investigation that began about two weeks ago. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation assisted with the case. Diaz remains jailed on $100,000. He is expected to return to court June 4.

Tara Pfeifer just graduated high school, but instead of entering the work force or going to college, she'll spend the next three months in jail.  She's serving time for a deadly accident that occurred two years ago in Salina. "What happened is probably what happens all over the country this time of year. A group of young girls were out  they stayed out way to late, there was some alcohol involved and unfortunately a terrible accident occurred," Pfeifer's attorney Jack Sheahon said.  Pfeifer was driving to one of the girls house when she wrecked the vehicle in to a culvert.

Authorities in Harvey County say it's reached a critical level, the jail population is at an all time high and doesn't seem to be going down. The overcrowding is making the job of being a detention deputy even more difficult.  "It's an amazing job. They have to put up with so much, you talk about stress, that is a stressful place," said Sheriff T. Walton. Right now the jail is holding 133 inmates, it's built to hold 136.  Sheriff Walton says overcrowding is something they first noticed earlier this year.  Each month since then the population has increased.

A Wichita man has been booked into the Cowley County jail in connection to a series of burglaries. Gerald Smith, 63, was arrested in Sedgwick County Tuesday, and transported to the Cowley County jail. The Arkansas City Traveler reports he has been charged with residential burglary, theft and criminal damage to property. Authorities said Smith is facing similar charges in other jurisdictions. Smith remains behind bars on $65,000 bond. The case remains under investigation.

Reno County voters have approved a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for a new jail. At last count, the yes votes totaled 5583 with 1630 voting no. The votes are not official until a canvass next week. Click here for Election Results The increased sales tax would help pay for the construction of a new jail along with renovation of the old jail and security improvements at the Reno County Courthouse. It would also pay to relocate offices of the county clerk, treasurer, register of deeds and appraiser, which would have to move because of the security changes.

Police Chief Norman Williams talked about Friday's incident on Monday. He says it all started after 2:00 Friday afternoon when a 24-year-old woman's car was stolen at gunpoint in the Dillon's parking lot on E. Harry. Williams says officers were watching for the suspect to show up near Lincoln and Zimmerly, because suspects in recent carjackings have dumped vehicles in that area - and they anticipated that the car in this case would turn up in that same area. Officers spotted the vehicle in that area and tried to pull the 30-year-old suspect over.

"We're in control now. " That's the message from Deputies at the Sedgwick County Jail. The Sheriff's Department is cracking down on things like graffiti and vandalism. Sedgwick County Undersheriff Danny Bardezbain showed us how it's moving forward with changes aimed at running at tighter ship. Bardezbain says inmates wrote on walls with pencils provided by the jail. Courts require writing utensils to be available to inmates so they can communicate with their attorneys. Now, the jail will only provide flexible pencils which won't damage the walls.

The second of four inmates who escaped from the Ottawa County Jail in April 2012 is sentenced today to more than 11 years in prison. 22 year old Drew Edward Wade of Topeka, was sentenced to 136 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. Wade pleaded guilty to the escape charge in January. A judge ordered the sentence to be served consecutive to the 87 months Wade is serving for previous convictions in Shawnee County. A second defendant in the case, Eric James, was sentenced in July 2012 to 18 years in federal prison for carjacking charges related to the escape.

The events that led-up to Monday night's chase and shooting are marked in court documents and Jason Perez's criminal background. Jason Perez was booked into Sedgwick County Jail on Attempted First Degree Murder charges on Wednesday. He had been hospitalized since being shot during the incident on Monday. November 2012, Perez was sentenced in Johnson County on felony criminal theft and drug charges. Fifteen days later, he was released from jail.  The Johnson County Department of Corrections said he was sentenced to serve 12 months probation, with several conditions.

The Reno County Sheriff posted a warning for people they arrest.  Sheriff Randy Henderson posted on the department's Facebook page that the jail is full.  He wrote if you get arrested Tuesday, you'll be sleeping on the concrete floor with a blanket.  The jail is full because of the recent snowstorms.  Reno County currently houses inmates in other counties like Chase and Butler County. But since the weather has been so bad, the transport unit couldn't get out to the other counties.