Contrary to city codes, no safety fencing was in place when an 8-year-old Lawrence boy was injured in an Aug. 13 fall at New York Elementary. It has since been installed.

It’s the first day of school for Lawrence public schools, and one little boy who was seriously injured at the construction site of his elementary school less than a week ago is back inside a classroom there.

Max McGill, 8, of Lawrence, had gone to New York Elementary School’s playground Thursday morning with his babysitter when he wandered off into a construction area at the school. He fell, police said, and suffered a “traumatic head injury.”

Yesterday, I spoke with Max’s dad, Joe McGill, of Lawrence, who lives with his son just across the street from the school. Joe said Max has a broken nose, collarbone and top rib. The accident also collapsed the top portions of both his lungs.

Today, McGill went with Max to school to do the heavy lifting and work things out with his son’s teachers.

“I’m going to carry his bags,” Joe McGill said. “We’ll get through it together.”

Joe McGill said he is a single dad, and though he can’t really afford it, he’s had to take the past week off from work to care for his son.

“He’s in a lot of pain,” McGill said. “We’ve got follow-up appointments coming up.”

I’m happy to hear Max is going to be all right. I was worried when I couldn’t get confirmation from hospitals on his medical condition last week.

FYI: Chad Lawhorn wrote about concerns that the McGills’ neighbors have about the construction site. You can read about those here.

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Registration is now open for an upcoming event for area children with local law enforcement and Kansas University athletes. “Hawks, Cops and Kids” will run from 8:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 19 at the Robinson Center, 1301 Sunnyside Ave., on the KU campus.

First- through fifth-graders are invited to attend the event featuring activities such as “sporting and teamwork exercises” and information on “personal safety, bullying, health and nutrition,” according to the event’s flier.

The KU Public Safety Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Athletics, the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence and Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters are all listed as sponsors.

To register a child, visit http://www.hawkscopsandkids.com/. For more information, contact Big Brothers Big Sisters at (785) 843-7359 or email mgordy@kansasbigs.org.
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Now for some crime:

Saturday, 4:54 a.m.

A police officer in the 2500 block of Iowa sees a southbound motorcycle without taillights on Iowa Street going over the 40 mph speed limit, Lawrence police spokeswoman Murphree said. The officer flips on his emergency lights, but the motorcycle zips away “at a high rate of speed,” flossing around traffic.

A bit later, another officer on patrol in the same block sees the same motorcycle buzzing by over the 40 mph speed limit, this time going northbound. That officer tries to stop the man, as well, but the driver zooms away yet again.

The officer follows after the driver, but loses him when he makes it to Alabama Street and turns south. The officer remains on patrol and sees a man wearing a bicycle helmet running across 23rd Street from Alabama Street, Murphree said.

The officer is then able to detain the man, and after a brief investigation, arrests him on suspicion of two counts of fleeing to elude police, two counts of reckless driving, two out-of-county warrants and one count of driving while his license was suspended.
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Saturday, 12:17 a.m.

A Lawrence man comes home to his residence in the 1000 block of Pennsylvania Street. He allegedly spots an unidentified man dinking around in his neighbor’s car, and calls police.

The unidentified man then allegedly gets out of the car and walks away. He soon comes “to a tree line near the residences,” Murphree said, and that’s when he starts high-tailing it.

Police arrive and the caller gives officers a description of the man, but it’s of no use – the man was not found.

The neighbor/vehicle owner reports that it was the face plate to his car radio that was apparently taken in the auto burglary. It was valued at $130.

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Sunday, 1:02 p.m.

A resident of an apartment in the 4300 block of West 24th Place who hadn’t renewed his lease approaches two of the apartment complex’s employees in the clubhouse. The resident is told he’s being evicted because he hadn’t renewed the lease, Murphree said, but all his belongings are in the apartment.

The resident reportedly begins insulting the two workers, claiming that some items were missing from his apartment, Murphree said. He continues the insults until one of the employees calls police.

Officers arrive and give him a notice to appear in court on suspicion of disorderly conduct and tell him not to return to the clubhouse again.
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Saturday, 2:17 a.m.

Someone reports that a girl under the age of 18 is trying to walk into a house that was not her home, Murphree said.

Police arrive and find her there. They take her into custody and bring her to the Juvenile Detention Center, Murphree said. She’s later released to the custody of her mother.

Police believe that alcohol was a “contributing factor” , Murphree said.
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As always, here’s our regular roundup of police calls. 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 Tuesday and Wednesday mornings:

Violence

• Disturbance (verbal or physical arguments): 3

• Disturbance with weapons: 1

• Criminal threat: 1

• Fight in progress: 1

Traffic

• Noninjury accident: 13

Medical

• Medical: 5

• Suicide threat: 1

Miscellaneous

• Suspicious activity: 5

• Vicious animal: 1

• Noise or Nuisance: 5

Welfare

• Child welfare check: 2

• Animal welfare check: 2

• Missing adult: 1

• Runaway: 2

Drugs

Drug activity: 1

Property crimes

• Stolen vehicle: 1

• Shoplifting: 1

• Burglary: 1

• Theft: 5

• Criminal damage: 1

• Trespassing: 1