A Lawrence man pleaded guilty to two counts of rape Friday in Douglas County District Court and will face nearly 38 years in prison when he is sentenced this summer. The defendant, Kenneth Wayne Soap, 46, committed the crimes in 2009. Pursuant to a search warrant, police found photos and videos on his computer of Soap performing sex acts on unconscious women, according to prosecutor Megan Ahsens, who laid out a ...
Updated at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 1 A teen who was acquitted four months ago of aggravated assault with a gun was arrested Friday on suspicion of armed robbery. Jayse Michael Sloop, 18, was taken into custody around midnight. The Douglas County Jail booking log indicates that the arrest occurred at 102 N. Eighth St., which the log lists as the Eighth Street boat ramp. However, a spokeswoman for the Lawrence ...
A 24-year-old man who was operating a vehicle with more than four times the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream was convicted of his fourth DUI — a felony — on Thursday in Douglas County District Court. The defendant, Hunter Neis, was arrested for his fourth DUI in August of last year, just four months after he was stopped for his third DUI in Osage County, in which his blood-alcohol level was more ...
A senior apartment complex just south of downtown Lawrence was evacuated late Wednesday morning after a fire in one of the units. No one was injured in the incident, Battalion Chief Aaron Flory said, but one unit was fire-damaged and multiple units were water-damaged by sprinklers. He said the cause of the fire was under investigation. Firefighters were called to the complex at 1700 Massachusetts, known as ...
Updated at 4:55 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 A transgender Lawrence woman on Friday filed a lawsuit against the state of Kansas after it invalidated her driver's license under a state law known as SB 244. The woman, Jamie Michelle Miller, born in 1971, underwent irreversible genital reassignment surgery 13 years ago, according to the suit, and has court orders from Douglas County recognizing that her gender is ...
A man who was convicted of aggravated battery following a drunk-driving incident that injured a person last summer was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 months in prison, suspended to 18 months of probation. Kody Rothfus, 34, pleaded no contest on March 6 to one count of aggravated battery while driving under the influence. The offense was originally charged as a level 5 person felony, but was lowered to a level 8 as ...