Courts

Defendant threatens D.A. after guilty verdict

A defendant who just had been found him guilty of attacking a jailer threatened a prosecutor Wednesday.

Scott L. Staggs, 34, called out Assistant Dist. Atty. Dave Zabel’s name as Zabel left the courtroom and threatened to beat him up.

“Next time my hands are free, watch, punk,” Staggs added as a group of courtroom deputies surrounded him at the defense table.

Zabel left the courtroom without responding and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Jurors had just found Staggs guilty of aggravated assault and battery on a law-enforcement officer stemming from a May 14 incident at the Douglas County Jail. Prosecutors said he kicked one jailer after menacing another with a pencil.

Staggs is scheduled for trial next month on charges that he tried to kill 21-year-old Josh Greemore, of Mayetta, during a robbery March 10 at Jayhawk Motel, 1004 N. Third St. Staggs was earlier evaluated at Larned State Hospital and deemed competent for trial.

In a separate case set for trial in November, he’s charged with throwing urine at jailers.

Sheriff’s Office

Four people arrested during DUI checkpoint

Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies arrested four people this past weekend during a sobriety checkpoint at Baldwin Junction.

Officials said 83 cars went through the checkpoint Saturday night on U.S. Highway 56.

Deputies arrested three drivers on DUI charges and arrested one person, with the assistance of the department’s drug dog, for possession of marijuana.

Officers also issued one citation for an open container of alcohol.

The Sheriff’s Office will be back at it this weekend. Another sobriety checkpoint is planned for 11:30 p.m. Saturday until 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

The Sheriff’s Office says the checkpoint will be somewhere along U.S. Highway 40, though the exact location has not been released.

Crime

Trial delayed in attack on highway workers

The trial for a 45-year-old man charged with firing a shotgun at two Kansas Department of Transportation workers has been postponed until Dec. 15.

Robert M. Krische, rural Lawrence, who’s charged with two counts of aggravated assault, originally was scheduled for a pretrial status conference Wednesday in Douglas County District Court.

KDOT workers testified at an earlier hearing that Krische fired a shotgun at them on April 15 as they tried to do surveying work on Krische’s property eight miles south of Lawrence along the route of a controversial realignment of U.S. Highway 59.

Gasoline prices

Pump Patrol seeks deals

The Journal-World has found a Lawrence-area gasoline price as low as $1.50 at three stations: Zarco 66 No. 3, 900 Iowa; Citgo, 2005 W. Ninth St.; and Hillcrest Amoco, 914 Iowa. If you find a lower price, call Pump Patrol at 832-7154.