The owner of the burning 2007 Toyota Camry was working inside at the Subway restaurant attached to the Presto, took notice and ran outside to put the flames out with a fire extinguisher, McKinley said. Police were called, and officers found the suspect — identified as 55-year-old Bernard Jerome Ellis — nearby.

Police then interviewed Ellis and the Camry owner, and McKinley said this is what the officers learned:

Ellis had allegedly found some beer in a dumpster a few days ago and gave it to the victim. Ellis contacted the victim on Saturday and asked to be paid for the beer, but the victim said he understood that the beer was a gift and “he had no intention to pay the suspect for the beer,” McKinley said.

Ellis apparently became “angered by not having payment for the beer,” McKinley said. So Ellis allegedly went and poured what’s believed to be vodka on the victim’s car and lit it on fire.

Police arrested Ellis on suspicion of arson in connection with the incident, and he’s been in the Douglas County Jail since 8:25 p.m. Saturday.
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Always trust your gut, I say.

Around 7:30 p.m. Friday, someone called police to say there was a person who looked like he was going from building to building on a bicycle in the 2000 block of West Sixth Street, police spokeswoman Kim Murphree said. The activity just didn’t sit right with the caller.

Police went to check things out, and ended up stopping a 28-year-old man on his bicycle fitting the provided description, Murphree said. They asked him for his name, and the man allegedly gave them a fake name.

Officers were somehow able to discover his real name — Stephen Allen Wisinger, according to jail booking logs — and find out that he had an outstanding warrant out of Fort Worth, Tex. I’m not sure what that warrant was for.

As they were arresting him on the warrant, officers allegedly “found a substance consistent with methamphetamine,” drug paraphernalia and “various forms of identification belonging to other people,” Murphree said.

Wisinger was then arrested on suspicion of drug possession, obstruction, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of stolen property and the warrant, according to booking logs.

This was one of those times when someone saw something that was unusual and called police, ultimately leading to an arrest. Officers can’t be everywhere all the time, so if you see strange behavior and you become suspicious, don’t be afraid to call dispatch.
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Over the weekend, 13 people were booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence. It’d be a safe bet to say that number is only going to increase this weekend and the next, as the Lawrence police will be stepping up their game on DUI enforcement beginning Thursday.

McKinley said that the Lawrence Police Department will be sending out more officers who will be specifically assigned to be on the lookout for signs of drunken driving and those “operating vehicles in an unsafe fashion” beginning Thursday and running through Sept. 7.

The increased police presence is paid for out of a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation aimed at combating drunken driving, McKinley said. According to KDOT statistics, four people are injured every day and one person is killed every three days in vehicle crashes involving impaired drivers in Kansas alone.

McKinley said that nearly 150 other law enforcement agencies in Kansas will be taking part over the next two weeks in this DUI enforcement campaign, known as “You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.”

McKinley said it’s especially important for law enforcement to be combating drunken driving and for the public to be extra mindful during this time of year.

“The next few weeks in Lawrence are marked by the return of students to area universities, celebrations, and families hitting the road for end of summer holiday travel,” McKinley said in a news release. “Designate a sober driver, buckle up, and help do your part to make our community a safer place.”
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And now for our regular roundup of police calls. As always, I’ll remind you that this is a list of noteworthy calls I pulled from the Lawrence Police Department call log. Not all calls yielded police reports, and many may have gone unsubstantiated. The list is meant to give you an idea of what kinds of calls police are responding to within a given time period.

This list is a collection of calls that police responded to between Monday and Tuesday mornings:

Violence

• Disturbance (verbal or physical arguments): 19

• Domestic disturbance: 8

• Domestic battery: 4

• Criminal threat: 6

• Fight in progress: 2

• Battery: 1

Traffic

• Noninjury accident: 15

• Injury accident: 1

• Road rage: 2

• Police pursuit: 1

Person crimes

• Sex crime: 2

• Harassment: 4

Medical

• Medical: 13

• Suicide threat: 2

• Suicide attempt: 1

• Alcohol poisoning: 2

Miscellaneous

• Suspicious activity: 18

•Suspicious activity with weapons: 1

• Vicious animal: 4

• Fireworks: 2

• Noise or Nuisance: 13

• Alcohol complaint: 2

• Sound of gunshots: 2

• Bar check: 1

• Indecent exposure: 4

Welfare

• Child welfare check: 9

• Adult welfare check: 20

• Animal welfare check: 4

• Missing adult: 1

• Runaway: 2

Drugs

Drug activity: 6

Property crimes

• Burglary: 6

• Auto burglary: 4

• Stolen vehicle: 2

• Forgery: 4

• Shoplifting: 2

• Theft: 16

• Criminal damage: 2

• Trespassing: 17

Lights and Sirens