By Peter Hall, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) The next act in the Penn State child sex abuse saga has the potential for high drama as inconsistencies have emerged in the story…
Category: Crime
A comprehensive crime page for the North Iowa area and beyond.
Conviction in 20-year-old murder wiped from books
Brian Slodysko, Chicago Tribune A man who served 10 years in prison after confessing to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Dixmoor girl, a crime in which four other teens also…
Man with HIV convicted of having sex with 14-year-old girl
Mark Bowes, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. A 52-year-old Richmond man could spend more than 10 years behind bars for his conviction Monday of having sex with a 14-year-old girl without telling her he…
Slain man was federal defendant in drug conspiracy case
By Jeremy Gorner, Annie Sweeney and Christy Gutowski, Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — A man found shot and killed last week in Woodridge, Ill., was a federal defendant in a drug conspiracy ring…
Music executive shot while driving through Hollywood intersection dies
By Richard Winton and Dalina Castellanos, Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — A music executive critically wounded by a gunman who opened fire Friday in Hollywood died Monday of his injuries, Los…
Manhattan U.S. Attorney and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Announce Arrest of Bronx Man for Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Janice K. Fedarcyk, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of…
Former Clinton Community School District Accounting Supervisor Sentenced for Theft of Federal Funds
DAVENPORT, IA—On December 7, 2011, Denisa Babcock, age 37, of Camanche, Iowa, was sentenced to 64 months in federal prison, having previously pleaded guilty to theft from a local government agency receiving…
Alleged Terrorist Indicted in New York for the Murder of Five American Soldiers
NEW YORK—Today, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., returned an indictment charging Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, 38, aka “Faruk Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa,” “Sayfildin Tahir Sharif” and “Tahir Sharif Sayfildin,” with aiding…
Lucchese Organized Crime Family Member and Associate Among 13 Arrested, Charged for Racketeering and Other Offenses, Including Illegal Takeover of Publicly Traded Company
WASHINGTON—Thirteen individuals, including an alleged member and an associate of the Lucchese organized crime family, are charged with racketeering and related offenses in an indictment unsealed this morning in conjunction with arrests…
Trinitarios gang members arrested in New York
NEW YORK – Fifty members and associates of the Bronx Trinitarios Gang (BTG) have been charged with racketeering, narcotics and firearms offenses. BTG allegedly operated as a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization…
Komisarjevsky sentenced to death for fatal home invasion
By Alaine Griffin, The Hartford Courant NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Jurors decided on the death penalty Friday for home invasion killer Joshua Komisarjevsky, rejecting weeks of defense evidence that portrayed him as…
Motive behind latest Virginia Tech shooting remains unknown
By Stephen Ceasar and Rene Lynch, Los Angeles Times The motive behind a puzzling murder-suicide on the campus of Virginia Tech was still unknown Friday, as investigators continued to piece together why…
1 of 2 suspects pleads guilty in plot against Seattle military facility
By Christine Clarridge, The Seattle Times SEATTLE — One of two men accused of conspiring to attack a military-processing station in Seattle in July pleaded guilty to three federal charges Thursday in…
Former Rutgers student rejects no-jail deal in secret taping case
By George Anastasia, The Philadelphia Inquirer NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A former Rutgers University student charged with invading the privacy of his roommate by secretly taping him in an intimate encounter with…
Woman arrested after driving to court while suspended
MASON CITY – Cerro Gordo County deputies arrested 21-year-old Shyla Yvonne Piper shortly before 2pm on Thursday on a warrant issued after law enforcement seen her drive to the Cerro Gordo County…
Virginia Tech gunman was not a student, acted alone, authorities say
By Rene Lynch, Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — The gunman in the Virginia Tech shooting was not a student, had no apparent connection to the university and is believed to have…
Mason City woman gets extended probation for felony prescription drug distribution
MASON CITY – On Monday, Janelle Rammelsberg, age 28 of Mason City, was sentenced to an extension of her probation by three years after a negotiated voluntary guilty plea for delivery of…
Spencer man admits to receiving child pornography
SIOUX CITY – A man who received child pornography pled guilty today in federal court in Sioux City. Justin Funck, age 27, of Spencer, Iowa, was convicted of one count of receiving…
Mason City man sentenced to Beje Clark for car theft
MASON CITY – Shawn Armstrong, age 38, of Mason City was sentenced to a residential treatment program at Beje Clark by Judge Colleen Weiland in Cerro Gordo County District court on Monday,…
Mason City man sent to jail for 6 months
MASON CITY – On Tuesday, November 1st, Randy Axiotis, 49, was sentenced to two 180 day sentences after entering Alford pleas in three criminal cases in Cerro Gordo County District Court. In…
NIACC instructor arrested for harassment
MASON CITY – NIACC instructor Jeffrey Pilz has landed in jail again, according to the Cerro Gordo County inmate population report. Pilz, 56, was booked into the Cerro Gordo County jail today…
Traffic stop leads to arrest of man when drugs are found
CLEAR LAKE – On Thursday November 03, 2011 at approximately 7:00 a.m. Officers from the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office and Clear Lake Police Department stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation…
FBI releases 2010 statistics on law enforcement officers killed and assaulted
WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to information released last week by the FBI, 56 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty last year; 72 officers died in accidents while…
Mason City man accused of forgery
MASON CITY – On Wednesday, October 26th, Mason City police arrested Monte Bitker, age 27, of 1708 Taft Ave South, Mason City after receiving a report of a suspicious subject cashing checks….
Younkers employee arrested for felony theft from store
MASON CITY – Mason City police were summoned to Younkers Department Store at 102 South Delaware, in Mason City’s Southbridge Mall on a report of an employee theft shortly before 11 a.m….
Repeated sex offender gets Beje Clark for felony 2nd offense residency restriction violations
MASON CITY – On Tuesday, October 25th, David Dow was sentenced to 6 month at Beje Clark a local residence treatment center, Iowa sex offender registry for life, three years of probation,…
Fugitive Arizona sex offender gets 45 days for sex offender registry violations here
MASON CITY – A man who originally would not identify himself the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s deputies after his arrest for criminal trespass as NorthIowaToday.com reported on October 3rd was sentenced by…
Repeat sex offender gets probation for felony registry violation
MASON CITY – On Tuesday, October 25th, Shawn Holmes of 201 Virginia Street in Mesrvey was sentenced to a 5 year suspended prison, an additional 10 years on the sex offender registry,…
Cops nab three during traffic stop
MASON CITY – At 3:10 a.m. Monday, October 24th, a Mason City Police Officer stopped to speak with three suspicious subjects in the parking lot of America’s Best Inn at 24 5th…
Tip leads to capture of escaped fugitive in Mason City
MASON CITY – Shortly after 6 p.m. on Monday, October 5th, Mason City police received a tip that a fugitive wanted for escape from Beje Clark and numerous other criminal offenses was…
DCI releases names of those involved in Forest City Shooting
FOREST CITY – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is now releasing the names of the officers involved in the October 20, 2011 shooting incident in Forest City, Iowa. The officers have…
Ames police officer nearly run down by stolen vehicle, fires weapon
Ames – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is now releasing the name of the officer involved in the shooting incident in Ames Friday night. The name of the officer is…
Iowa man charged with child pornography offenses
CEDAR RAPIDS – James Byers, age 56, from Belle Plaine, Iowa, has been charged with three child pornography offenses. The charges are contained in an indictment unsealed October 11, 2011, in United…
DCI agents, Forest City officer involved in shooting incident
FOREST CITY, IOWA – Last night, October 20, 2011, in Forest City at approximately 6:15 PM, two agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation were involved in an altercation with an…
Clear Lake woman receives probation in child endangerment case
MASON CITY – Tonya Clifford had originally been arrested and transported to Cerro Gordo County jail by Clear Lake police on September 1st on an aggravated misdemeanor charge of child endangerment from…
Waterloo man sentenced to federal prison on drug charges
CEDAR RAPIDS – A 58 year-old man who was selling large quantities of marijuana while collecting Social Security benefits was sentenced on October 11, 2011 to almost six years in federal prison….
Two wanted Mason City men on bikes stopped by cops and arrested
MASON CITY – Shortly after 4 a.m. on Monday, October 18th, Mason City police stopped two men for no lights on their bicycles in the 1500 block on 4th Street SW. Upon…
Clear Lake man has one count of possession of child porn dismissed
MASON CITY – On Tuesday, October 11th, an aggravated misdemeanor charge of purchase/possession of medium depicting sexual exploitation of a minor was dismissed without prejudice by magistrate Rolf Aronson against Bradley Scott…
Fed’s shut down 18 child porn websites
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In another example of the increasingly international nature of crime, a man was recently indicted on federal charges of running 18 Chinese-language child pornography websites out of his apartment…
Law Enforcement captures wanted escapee after he tries to hide in apartment
MASON CITY – Shortly before 1 AM Sunday, October 16th, local law enforcement spotted Dustin Barnes, age 20, behind Alley Katz bar at 1341 Federal Ave North, Mason City. When Dustin Barnes…