Transient sentenced on robbery charge

A transient convicted in the severe beating and robbery of a homeless man last year outside the Lawrence Open Shelter was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

Ivan D. Prentup, 26, was sentenced to 32 months in prison Friday after pleading guilty to one count of robbery in connection with the Dec. 15 beating at 944 Ky. that sent Alan Cannon to University of Kansas Hospital.

Police testified Prentup had told them he was angry because Cannon had called him an American Indian slur.

“I made a mistake, and I let my anger get the best of me,” Prentup told Douglas County District Judge Jack Murphy on Friday.

Prentup said he thought about leaving town the day after the incident but turned himself in to police because he thought it was the right thing to do.

Prentup initially was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated robbery, but prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty to the lesser charge. Assistant Dist. Atty. Dave Zabel said Cannon, the victim, approved of the plea agreement.

Winds collapse building in Harper

Harper — Five people were injured Friday in Harper County after a severe thunderstorm swept through town, collapsing a dozen buildings and downing trees and power lines.

Three workmen restoring downtown’s historic Red Barn were hurt when 70-mile-per-hour winds collapsed the structure, said Mike Loreg, the county’s emergency director.

The men were trapped for 30 minutes before they were rescued and taken to hospitals. One of the men was in serious condition, and the other two in stable condition at the scene.

Two other women were injured in separate incidents. One was struck by lightening, and the other was hurt when a tree hit her home, Loreg said. Their conditions were not immediately known.

The storm blew through the county in less than 35 minutes.