Arson suspected in apartment fire

Police believe arson was the cause of a fire early Sunday morning that damaged the doors of two apartments in the 1100 block of West 24th Street.

Investigators say they think someone poured an accelerant on the doors before lighting them. A 21-year-old man who lives in one of the apartments told police he woke up to the sound of his alarm, smelled smoke and ran outside.

No one was injured.

Police arrested a 33-year-old woman at the scene for disorderly conduct and making a criminal threat, but they didn’t have enough information Wednesday to say whether she was a suspect in the arson. The woman lives in the building.

The case remains under investigation.

Crime

St. Louis resident guilty in I-70 child fatality

A Douglas County jury convicted a St. Louis man of misdemeanor vehicular homicide Wednesday in connection with a July 2002 wreck on Interstate 70 that killed an 11-year-old girl.

But jurors acquitted Michael J. Roberts, 35, of the two most serious charges against him: reckless involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter while under the influence, both felonies.

Jurors also found Roberts guilty of possession of marijuana, having an open container and not wearing a seat belt.

According to the accident report, Roberts fell asleep at the wheel about a mile from the East Lawrence interchange. His car went down an embankment and struck a tree, killing 11-year-old Donisha Rowan. A 21-year-old and two other children were hurt in the crash.

Sentencing will be at 10 a.m. April 9.

Courts

Ottawa meth case ends in guilty verdict

Kansas City, Kan. — An Ottawa man was convicted Tuesday by a federal jury of manufacturing methamphetamine and other charges.

Rollie P. Brooks, 41, was found guilty of single counts of attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, possessing a gun silencer, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and nine counts of possessing pseudoephedrine to use in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, an investigation was launched Feb. 11, 2003, by Lawrence Police after they were notified by SuperTarget that Brooks had purchased boxes of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from the store for the third day in a row.

Lawrence and Ottawa police later searched Brooks’ property in Ottawa and found a methamphetamine laboratory in a recreational vehicle, court testimony indicated.

Brooks faces sentences of up to 40 years in prison on the convictions. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 26 by U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum.