Taco John’s robber gets 30-year sentence

A Kansas City, Kan., man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for the December 2003 armed robbery of the Taco John’s at 23rd Street and Ousdahl Road.

U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Murguia on Monday sentenced Michael A. Hussey, 39, to 365 months in prison for robbery, brandishing a gun during a robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Hussey admitted in a plea that on Dec. 26, 2003, he leaped over the counter of the restaurant, brandished a revolver and stole about $855 from the restaurant.

A co-defendant George O. Cannon, 47, previously was sentenced to 130 months in prison.

Employees said one of the men concealed his face with a snowman garland taken from the store’s Christmas decorations. A drive-through customer called police on her cell phone after seeing the men inside the store.

Lawrence Police officers arrived as Hussey and Cannon were fleeing the store and caught them a few blocks away after a foot chase.

Fatal accident

Report: Driver, victim both under influence

A report released Tuesday shows that police believe the driver who struck and killed a pedestrian April 9 on West Sixth Street was speeding and driving aggressively in addition to drunken driving.

But the report also says officers believed the pedestrian, 25-year-old Jodie Hatzenbihler, of Olathe, was under the influence of alcohol as she walked across the street after leaving Cadillac Ranch, 2515 W. Sixth St.

Police had previously said the driver, Adan S. Cruz, 23, Lawrence, was under the influence of alcohol when he struck Hatzenbihler but said it was too early to discuss whether he was speeding.

Police had not previously said whether Hatzenbihler was under the influence.

The report lists Cruz’s actions as more significant contributing factors than Hatzenbihler’s.

Recognition

KU women’s center to honor governor

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will be on the Kansas University campus Thursday for a ceremony honoring the passage and signing of Senate Bill 74, which will allow KU classified workers to create a new employee structure outside civil service.

Sebelius will sign commemorative copies of the bill — which she signed formally earlier this month — at 4 p.m. in Alderson Auditorium of the Kansas Union.

The governor also will be the keynote speaker at the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center banquet at 7:30 p.m. that night at the Kansas Union Ballroom. Sebelius will be presented the Pioneer Woman award.