Ex-con arrested by police at Walmart formally charged in drug distribution case
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A 32-year-old ex-con arrested at Walmart Sunday for allegedly being in possession of meth, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia all with intent to distribute and no tax stamp was back in court Wednesday where he was read the formal charges.
Jerry L. Mahan II is jailed on a bond of $23,500 and again asked for a bond reduction, which was again denied.
He was apparently sitting on a bench and left a black case on the bench as he left. Someone found it and turned it in to customer service. They noticed that the contents didn’t look legal, so when Mahan came back to claim the case, police were called in. The case allegedly contained the meth and cocaine both at least 3.5 grams, but less than 100 grams.
Mahan was paroled back in January after serving time for drug distribution charges for a case in 2007. Other convictions involving drugs go back to a case in 2001.
With the charges filed, the case will now move to a waiver-status docket.
Hearing in aggravated assault case resumes Thursday
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The hearing for a 26-year-old Hutchinson man charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal discharge of a firearm at or in an occupied dwelling, possession of stolen property and misdemeanor possession of marijuana is expected to resume Wednesday.
Christopher A. Vanwye is accused of threatening his mother’s fiance during an altercation back on Dec. 15, 2014. He’s alleged to have put the gun to the head of Delbert East while threatening him.
The suspect’s mother told the court that her son was suicidal and that she had never seen him that way. Maria Vanwye testified at the previous hearing that her son put the gun to his head and she pushed the chair he was in and the gun went off, missing her son, but going through a wall, this at a home in the 800 block of West 14th.
A neighbor told the court that the bullet went through a screen, storm window and a window in her home and lodged into a wall of her home, located across the alley from the home on West 14th.
The state also alleges that the weapon, an Astra 357 revolver, was stolen from another individual and that at the very least, Vanwye was in possession of stolen property. At the time of his arrest, he reportedly was in possession of marijuana.
The state had trouble locating an officer to testify in the case during the last hearing setting, so Judge Joe McCarville agreed to recess the hearing.
Vanwye remains jailed on a $15,000 bond.
Man charged with criminal threat for alleged threat at the Reno County Courthouse
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A man who allegedly communicated a threat to commit violence, with the intent to cause the evacuation of the Reno County Courthouse, was before Magistrate Judge Randy McEwen Wednesday morning where he was read the formal charge.
Stephen Zimmerman is charged with the one count of criminal threat, which the state alleges was designed to cause terror, and the evacuation or disruption of the courthouse at 206 W. 1st.
According to Sheriff Captain Steve Lutz, he became friends with a female inmate and then left a letter with one of the court clerks saying that if court didn’t go well for this female inmate, he might start a fire or blow something up that could result in charred bodies.
Law enforcement were waiting his arrival and, when he arrived at the courthouse, he had a backpack on him, but there was no type of device, just a trumpet.
The state alleges that Zimmerman made the threat on Sept. 12, 2014.
He again arrived in court Wednesday with a backpack on him and, after the judge read him the charge, he then began to speak about military regulations or something to that effect. Judge McEwen stopped him before he made any more statements.
Sheriff deputies then escorted him from the courtroom. It doesn’t appear that he was arrested, but may have again had the backpack searched.
His case now moves to a future waiver-status docket.