Vehicles

Wichita will see its first downtown public electric vehicle (EV) charging station open Thursday at 100 N. Broadway. This Westar energy station powers electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF, Chevy Volt, and Ford Transit. “This is an exciting time for consumers. EV's have the ability to help reduce our dependency on foreign oil by using a fuel we generate right here in Kansas - electricity,” said Jim Ludwig, executive vice president, consumer services and public affairs. “Electric vehicle customers can also achieve 75 percent or greater savings on fuel expenses and reduced greenhouse-gas emissions versus gas-powered vehicles.” The charging station will allow electric vehicle drivers to top off their charge while downtown.

The former director of public works for Barber County and his wife have been indicted on charges of stealing vehicles and money from the county.   The federal indictment alleges the public works director diverted vehicles purchased with county funds to a company incorporated by his wife. He later sold the stolen vehicles for cash.   Steven E. Collier, 49 of Nashville has been charged with four counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds, three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property and three counts of sale of stolen property.

Just a day after a vandal destroys four busses and damages several others, a Wichita church finds replacements just in time for the Sunday service. They're something Wichita's First Pentecostal Church says are vital to their ministry. Three new buses roll in to the Church's parking lot. Church officials hope they will be enough to supplement their 24 vehicle fleet. The buses pick up and drop off about 800 people every Sunday that wouldn't normally be able to make it to church otherwise.

(PRATT COUNTY, Kan.) The Pratt County Sheriff is investigating a vehicle that appears to have been shot while driving west on U.S. 54, and investigators say they're worried the bullet could have come from a deer poacher.  Investigators were on the scene late into Sunday night looking for evidence in the apparent shooting. Sheriff Vernon Chinn says the incident happened near a rest area about 13 miles east of Pratt around nine o'clock Sunday night. Chinn says the damage to the front windshield appears to be a bullet hole, but investigators will fully inspect the car to confirm that Monday morning.

They couldn't stand by and watch a man burn to death.  That's why two Sedgwick County Sheriff's Deputies say they put their own lives on the line to free a driver from a fiery pick-up truck. The drama unfolded Wednesday morning in the 3700 block of South Broadway, near Haysville.  The driver in the burning Chevy pick-up had earlier been seen crashing into at least two vehicles and striking several streets signs along Broadway between 71st & 63rd Streets South. KHP investigators later determined the 65 year-old driver was a diabetic and had been suffering the effects of low blood sugar when he apparently lost control of the wheel and became disoriented.

Update:  According to the Wichita Police Department he pedestrian who was hit last night is now in stable condition with no injuries.  Police say the pedestrian was intoxicated. ----- One person is in critical condition after a crash in Wichita Thursday night. The crash happened around 8:30 at 1st and Washington. An emergency dispatcher tells Eyewitness News that a man was hit by a car at the intersection. Paramedics took him to a Wichita hospital in critical condition.

One person is killed, another is seriously injured in a two vehicle accident in downtown Wichita Friday night. It happened right around 10:30 at Kellogg and Sycamore. That's in the Central Business District. Fire district shut down traffic in the eastbound and westbound lanes of Kellogg for a while Friday night.

Wichita police say expensive surgical tools were taken from a vehicle in northwest Wichita early Sunday morning. It happened in the 1500 block of N. West street. Authorities say the owner of the car left approximately $100,000 dollars with of surgical tools in her car. She noticed that her vehicle was broken into and the tools were gone around 1 in the morning. Officers searched the area. They could not find the suspect but they did find a large medical bag in a nearby field.

A 14 year-old student was hit by a vehicle at Northwest High School Tuesday afternoon according to Wichita police. Paramedics took the girl to the hospital in serious condition. Her mother contacted Eyewitness News later Tuesday evening to say her daughter was lucky. We're told she's "very sore and has a few bruises but no broken bones. "  

By Ryan Johnson (WICHITA, Kan.) A man is in critical condition after being involved in a single vehicle accident. According to dispatch the man was on Broadway and 71st street when he was thrown from his vehicle. It happened just before 4 O'clock Tuesday morning. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital.  Be sure to check out KWCH.com for the latest on this story.