Courts

Sentencing delayed for hit-and-run driver

A judge will wait another month to decide what penalty a Missouri man should receive for drinking and driving while on probation for the April 2000 hit-and-run death of a homeless man.

Judge Paula Martin had been scheduled to sentence Joshua C. Mattocks, 24, Fair Grove, Mo., on Wednesday, but Mattocks’ attorney asked for more time and Martin set a hearing for May 8.

One reason for the delay is that it’s unclear whether Mattocks’ asthma will prevent him from being accepted to a correctional camp in Labette County, one of the possible punishments he faces.

Mattocks received three years of probation in 2001 for running over and killing 38-year-old John Lowe, who was sleeping in an alley near Ninth and Mississippi streets. Mattocks was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

His probation required him to stay away from alcohol, but he was convicted last month of driving while intoxicated on Dec. 14 in Greene County, Mo.

Police

Student prescription pills missing from Pinckney

Police are investigating the disappearance of students’ prescription pills from the nurse’s office at Pinckney School, 810 W. Sixth St.

The nurse noticed last week that it appeared some pills were missing from the cabinet where she keeps a long-term supply, according to a police report. She took an inventory and found 54 pills missing from seven students’ prescriptions.

The nurse told police the theft of the pills happened some time between Dec. 20 and Friday.