Missouri State Highway Patrol Archives

About 450 Missourians injured in traffic crashes involving school buses in 2018 (AUDIO)

August 7, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri state troopers are urging motorists to be careful on the road, as students prepare to begin the 2019-2020 school year.

A Missouri state trooper speaks to students about school bus safety (2019 file photo courtesy of Missouri State Highway Patrol general headquarters)

Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain John Hotz says five Missourians were killed and another 457 suffered injuries in traffic crashes involving school buses in 2018.

“And we want to make sure that anytime they’re (bus drivers) picking up or discharging students that people are stopping for them, if they’re required to stop,” Hotz says.

Captain Hotz reminds you that Missouri law requires drivers to stop when a school bus stops and displays warning signals to load or unload children, on a two-lane road.

He says pedestrian and bicycle traffic will increase near schools and wants drivers to be alert.

“We know that this time of year we’re going to start seeing school buses, we haven’t seen those for several months now,” says Hotz. “But we also see a lot of parents that take their kids to school.”

Hotz reminds children to wear a helmet and follow traffic laws, if they ride a bicycle to school.

He also says most traffic crashes involving drivers under the age of 21 happen between 3 and 4 p.m., when school typically lets out. As the new school year approaches, Hotz encourages parents to tell young people that driving is a full-time job.

“Once they’re (students) leaving school, some of them may be going to jobs, some of them may have practice or whatever, but a lot of times they’re driving around for more recreational purposes,” Hotz says.

He says using a cell phone or texting can be the distraction that leads to a crash, adding that texting while driving is against Missouri law for anyone under the age of 22.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain John Hotz, which was recorded on August 6, 2019:

Missouri Amber Alert canceled; child and mother found safe in Rolla

August 1, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(This story is updated to include the Patrol’s clarification that Frye was ruled out as a suspect)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol logo (courtesy of Patrol Lieutenant Collin Stosberg)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has canceled an Amber Alert that was issued this afternoon in central Missouri’s Maries County.

State troopers say a suspect abducted Alison Summerford and her child at gunpoint from their Maries County residence. Highway Patrol Sergeant Scott White tells Missourinet Alison Summerford and her child have been located safe in Rolla. He says authorities are still working to determine what happened.

Troopers have described the suspect as a white or Hispanic male with black hair and a black beard, wearing a tee shirt with a dragon on it.

The child is Dominque Summerford, a boy about 10 to 11 months old. The Patrol also says Alison Summerford is five months pregnant.

Troopers originally described the suspect as Terrioun Frye. However, both the Highway Patrol and the Maries County Sheriff’s Department tell Missourinet that Frye has been ruled out as a suspect.

Audit: northwest Missouri bookkeeper used embezzled money on cruises, credit cards

July 17, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s state auditor says the former bookkeeper for a northwest Missouri road district misappropriated more than $286,000.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway briefs Capitol reporters on April 2, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Alisa Nelson)

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway says former Plattsburg Special Road District bookkeeper Ava Langner allegedly embezzled the money from 2011 to 2018.

Galloway’s office has released a scathing district audit, which says Langner used to money to pay credit cards and for travel on Carnival Cruise Lines. The audit also says Langner used the money for entertainment at locations like Silver Dollar City, the Starlight Theatre and Space Center Houston.

The audit says $76,000 was used to pay Langner’s personal credit card bills.

Langner served as the district’s secretary/treasurer, and was fired by the board in October.

Galloway spokeswoman Steph Deidrick tells Missourinet that Langner has not been charged yet, adding that the FBI and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are investigating.

The auditor’s 46-page report notes the Clinton County prosecutor referred the matter to both the Highway Patrol and the FBI.

The state auditor’s public corruption and fraud division released the audit today, giving the district a rating of “poor.”

“This was a brazen betrayal by an official entrusted with public funds, who then tried to cover her tracks by falsifying documents,” Galloway says in a statement. “Restoring public trust and confidence in the district may be a challenge going forward, but it is vitally important that it happen.”

Galloway says a whistleblower contacted her office last fall, regarding potential fraud in the district. Galloway says that after a preliminary investigation found the allegations credible, she asked for and received a request from district officials to conduct an independent audit.

Plattsburg, which is in Clinton County, is southeast of St. Joseph.

Missouri state troopers to conduct DWI enforcement during Fourth of July holiday (AUDIO)

July 3, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says all available troopers will be patrolling roadways during the long Fourth of July weekend, enforcing traffic laws and assisting motorists.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper patrols the Lake of the Ozarks (2019 photo courtesy of Patrol Lt. Collin Stosberg)

Patrol Lieutenant Collin Stosberg is urging you to exercise care on the road.

“Drive the speed limit, be courteous, follow traffic laws and never drink and drive,” Stosberg says.

Missouri state troopers say the Fourth of July holiday weekend is historically one of the deadliest ones on the road because of alcohol. Lieutenant Stosberg says four people died and another 220 suffered injuries in Missouri traffic crashes during the 2018 holiday.

“If everyone wore their seat belt, (if) no one would drink and drive, if motorcyclists wear their helmet and people would obey those traffic laws, we would have zero fatalities,” says Stosberg.

The Highway Patrol says an Independence Day DWI enforcement operation will take place during the entire holiday weekend. Troopers are enforcing all Missouri statutes, including driving while intoxicated and underage drinking.

The 2019 holiday counting period begins Wednesday evening at 6 and goes through 11:59 Sunday night.

Meantime, the Patrol says the Fourth holiday weekend is also one of the busiest boating holidays of the year. Lieutenant Stosberg is urging boaters to be alert for other boats and for swimmers.

“If you’re out (on the water) at night, that seems to be the deadliest crashes,” Stosberg says. “Make sure your navigation lights are on.”

Stosberg also notes evening fireworks displays attract additional night boaters.

Just last weekend, two boats collided at night at the Lake of the Ozarks, killing 39-year-old Jason Russell of mid-Missouri’s Eugene.

Lake traffic is expected to be heavy this weekend. Missourinet Versailles affiliate KTKS (FM 95.1) reports more than 250,000 are expected to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Collin Stosberg, which was recorded on July 2, 2019:

Northwest Missouri suspect dies after reportedly shooting two motorists and firing at trooper

May 31, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(News director Brent Martin at Missourinet St. Joseph affiliate KFEQ contributed to this story)

A man suspected of firing shots into two cars and then exchanging gunfire with a trooper has been killed in northwest Missouri, after his vehicle overturned Friday morning on I-35 near Cameron.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC) is investigating.

Patrol Troop H Sergeant Jacob Angle tells Missourinet St. Joseph affiliate KFEQ Radio (AM 680) that troopers received a report of shots fired on I-35 at about 7 this morning.

Angle says occupants of two other vehicles suffered non life-threatening injuries, after being shot by the suspect during the pursuit.

“One of our troopers saw the suspect vehicle, which was described as a small red passenger car northbound on Interstate 35 about the 56, 57 mile marker,” Angle tells KFEQ. “Our trooper attempted to stop that vehicle, at which time the vehicle failed to yield and a pursuit was initiated.”

Angle says the pursuit continued on northbound I-35 and that the suspect fired shots at the trooper, who returned fire. KFEQ reports the pursuit continued on heavily-traveled I-35 until the suspect lost control of his vehicle, ran off the road and overturned.

Troopers found him dead, pinned underneath the vehicle. The Daviess County Coroner pronounced the suspect dead, at the scene.

Sergeant Angle tells Missourinet the incident remains under investigation. He says the Patrol has not released the suspect’s name, adding that next of kin have not been notified yet.

An autopsy will be performed, to determine cause of death.

The DDCC’s investigation continues, and Sergeant Angle says northwest Missouri’s Clinton County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the motorist shootings along I-35.

The troopers involved in the pursuit were uninjured.

Gov. Parson’s update on storm recovery, damage assessments: Missouri is making strong progress

May 25, 2019 By Missourinet Contributor

Hawthorne Apartments took a direct hit Wednesday night.

Governor Parson urges Missourians to be prepared to take protective actions over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in which severe weather and flooding are being forecast.

The National Weather Service Kansas City Office expects up to three inches of rain in northwest Missouri by early Saturday morning, resulting in a Flash Flood Watch. The Kansas City NWS office is calling for a total of 4 to 6 inches of rainfall for parts of Missouri over the next seven days. This is now expected to push flooded rivers to higher levels than previously forecast

In Jefferson City, a team of volunteer engineers, architects, building inspectors, and other trained professionals Friday began assessing the exteriors of about 500 homes and buildings believed to have sustained damage to determine which are safe and which should be evacuated.

On Saturday, SEMA’s Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (S.A.V.E.) Coalition is expected to evaluate about 200 additional structures in Cole County that are reported to have been damaged.

Of the first 321 structures reviewed Friday, the S.A.V.E. Coalition reported the following:

78 Unsafe (Severely damaged and cannot be occupied – Red placard.)
60 Restricted Use (A portion of the building is unsafe – Yellow placard.)
183 Safe for Reentry (Structurally safe to occupy – Green placard.)

Inspectors look for external structural damage, such as partially collapsed buildings, buildings moved off their foundations, leaning buildings, damage to supports, falling hazards from chimneys or walls, or other hazards like gas leaks or downed power lines.

“As I traveled the state yesterday and observed the devastation from Wednesday night storms, I saw people hard at work and lending a hand everywhere I went. Missouri utilities and businesses have brought on extra workers and are working extended shifts; public service workers are doing yeoman’s work, and volunteers are making a difference. The results are clear. Missouri is making strong progress in our recovery from this challenge, ” Parson said.

More updates from Governor’s Office

State Facilities Restoration: The Missouri Office of Administration (OA) has taken the following actions so that all state employees can return to work on Tuesday: begun cleanup efforts, worked with contractors to repair damaged buildings and roofs, worked with Ameren Missouri to restore power to several buildings, recovered IT equipment from damaged buildings, and identified temporary work spaces for employees in damaged buildings. At the Division of Employment Security building on Dunklin Street, OA has assisted in moving employees to temporary work spaces and worked to repair the HVAC system, as well as cleaning debris and helping Ameren Missouri restore power to the building.

Power Restoration: Efforts by Ameren Missouri and Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, bolstered by additional crews, have greatly reduced outages. Friday morning, in the Jefferson City area, Ameren Missouri was reporting about 3,000 outages. Three Rivers Electric was reporting about 900 outages in Cole County and about 250 in Miller County. Power is expected to be completely restored Saturday. There were more than 14,000 total outages on Thursday.

Communications Restoration: Verizon, which sustained damage that affected 19 sites in the Jefferson City area has deployed three mobile cellular sites and a mobile community center at City Hall to support first responders and affected community members with wireless communications. The company is also providing a recharging station, laptops with internet connectivity, and an air-conditioned mobile facility to support survivors and volunteers. It’s also offering unlimited calling, text, and data for customers impacted by the Missouri tornadoes.

Communications Restoration: U.S. Cellular, whose service was affected by the storms in Miller, Barton, and Jasper counties, deployed generators and partnered with another carrier to raise call capacity.

Law Enforcement: In addition to assisting local public safety agencies responding to calls for service, search and rescue, and security details in Jefferson City, Golden City and Carl Junction, the Missouri State Highway Patrol provided 21 of its law enforcement academy recruits to direct traffic in damaged areas of Jefferson City on Thursday. Also, nine Patrol troopers assisted by handling regular police calls for service in the Jefferson City area on Thursday. Patrol aircraft have been assisting with aerial damage assessments.

Missouri State Representative Roeber still recovering from vehicle crash

May 13, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Speaker says a state lawmaker who was seriously injured in a March head-on collision will need to learn to walk again.

State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Missouri House floor on May 12, 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet that State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, continues to recover. Roeber is no longer at MU Health Care in Columbia.

“Representative Roeber is now back in the Kansas City area, she continues to receive treatment but at least my understanding is her need for surgeries are done,” Haahr says.

The March collision happened on Highway 50 in west-central Missouri’s Syracuse. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Roeber crossed the center line on Highway 50 and struck a second vehicle.

Roeber, who was first elected to the House in 2014, chairs the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. She will not return to the Capitol this session, which ends Friday at 6 p.m.

Meantime, legislation that would allow charter schools to expand to Missouri cities and charter counties with a population larger than 30,000 is finished for the year.

Chairwoman Roeber is the House sponsor. Her bill is House bill 581.

House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, tells Missourinet the bill was removed from the House calendar because of the amount of time it sat in the calendar and was not brought up for debate.

Speaker Haahr told Missourinet recently the bill already faced an uncertain future with Roeber out. He noted that charter school legislation would have probably have had come through the Senate first, where it’s already been filibustered.

“If not, we always have next year to work on that issue,” says Haahr.

Proponents of charter school expansion legislation include the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the organization Excellence in Education in Action. Supporters say school choices benefit all in society and that expansion will give more children an opportunity to attend schools that meet their needs.

Bill opponents include the Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association. Opponents say removing students from public education impacts the overall district and that the fiscal impact of charter school expansion will hurt public school funding and programs.

Under current law, charter schools are only allowed in St. Louis, Kansas City and an unaccredited school district. Charter schools are publicly-funded schools which operate independently of traditional public schools.

Fire at Highway Patrol maintenance building could impact some operations

April 8, 2014 By Mike Lear

A fire early Tuesday morning at a Highway Patrol maintenance facility will impact the Patrol’s ability to do its job, according to the Patrol’s Superintendent.

Colonel Ron Replogle says the 22,400 square foot facility in Jefferson City is used for vehicle maintenance and equipping. He says the building is a total loss as are at least 8 of the 14 vehicles inside.

“It is our main maintenance facility for the entire state for our fleet of vehicles. With the merger of the Water Patrol, we have a fleet of close to 1,500 vehicles now,” says Replogle. “It’s going to be a big loss for us. It’s going to take us a little time to get operational here again.” He says some operations will be moved to other buildings until the structure can be rebuilt.

The state is moving quickly to develop an estimate of losses to give to lawmakers, who still haven’t approved the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and could potentially include rebuilding costs in it.

Replogle says of an early estimate, “$3.8-million dollars just for the structure itself. That doesn’t include the cars and the other equipment that was lost in the fire. It’s probably going to end up being somewhere between a $4-million and $5-million dollar total loss.”

No one was injured in the fire. Its cause is still under investigation but Replogle says it is not considered suspicious.

Upgrades could get Amber Alerts out faster

March 19, 2014 By Mike Lear

A series of changes to the state’s Amber Alert system could be coming that would reduce the time it takes to issue an alert by 20 to 30 minutes, according to the program’s coordinator.

One change that is expected to take place Wednesday was prompted in part by the abduction and murder of 10-year-old Hailey Owens of Springfield last month.

Captain Greg Kindle says it involves the forms that local law enforcement officers have had to print out, fill out and fax to the Patrol when a child is abducted. Those will be made available to fill out and submit online, which Kindle says will save hassle and time.

Kindle says another change could make a greater difference, but it is dependent on money being left in the state’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget to support it.

Representative Eric Burlison (R-Springfield) proposed, and the House Budget Committee adopted, $120-thousand dollars to pay for the Patrol to tie in the Amber Alert System to the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System (MULES).

Kindle says that would altogether eliminate the need for a local officer to fill out that form.

“When they make their MULES and (National Crime Information Center) entry … it would come straight to Troop F off that entry,” says Kindle.

Amber Alerts are administered and issued at the Patrol’s Troop F headquarters based in Jefferson City.

To see active Amber Alerts, visit www.missingkids.com/AMBER

Kindle says if that money is included in the final budget proposal, the Patrol could move forward with tying those two systems together.

Another upgrade that has been the subject of testing with the U.S. Department of Justice since before Thanksgiving would allow one entry from the Patrol to simultaneously go to news agencies, the Amber Alert website and the Emergency Alert System. The Patrol currently has to enter each separately.

Kindle says he is optimistic that upgrade will take effect in the next month or two.

The end result of all of those upgrades could be significant.

“On the originating agency’s end, that could be several minutes,” says Kindle. “Not having to print this form out and fax it and all that … you’re probably talking 15 or 20 minutes that’s going to save in the originating agency. Here in Troop F, it’s probably going to knock another five to ten minutes off.”

Kindle says such a reduction in time would be “extremely important. Every minute counts when you have a true abduction like that.”

To receive Amber Alerts on Twitter, follow @AMBERAlert

Other efforts would involve Amber Alert training for all law enforcement entities that make MULES entries. That would have other entities besides the officers at the scene considering whether a situation merits an Amber Alert.

“The officer there on the scene is dealing with witnesses and trying to get license plates and descriptions of vehicles and all that, and an Amber Alert might not be the first thing that comes to his mind,” explains Kindle. “This radio operator that’s kind of removed, we’re hoping, will think, ‘Hey, we talked about this Amber Alert thing. This looks like it may qualify.’ Again, maybe just five minutes, ten minutes saved there.”

Training will also be offered for line officers in police and sheriffs’ departments in considering when a situation merits an Amber Alert.

House Republican ‘appalled’ by lack of action on impeachment filings against Gov. Nixon

March 13, 2014 By Mike Lear

The latest House Republican to file articles of impeachment against Governor Jay Nixon (D) says he is “appalled” his majority party’s leadership has not advanced any proposals to impeach the Governor since their filing.

Representative Rick Brattin (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel; Missouri House Communications)

Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) has filed two articles of impeachment against Nixon. He says Nixon violated the state Constitution by not disciplining or firing members of the executive branch for their roles in the scanning and retention of concealed carry endorsement documents by the Department of Revenue, and the release twice of personal information related to those documents to federal authorities.

Brattin says Nixon should be held accountable. His filing is HR 923.

“When you’re in charge,” Brattin says of Nixon, “the buck stops with you and we’ve had thousands of people’s important documents being scanned and sent over to another state and now are no telling where and I think it’s ridiculous and egregious.”

Brattin follows fellow Republicans Nick Marshall (R-Parkville) and Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove) who have also filed articles of impeachment against the Governor. He co-sponsors their efforts as they do his and one another’s.

Marshall filed two articles saying Nixon’s executive order instructing the Department of Revenue to accept joint tax returns from same-sex couples violated the state Constitution. Moon says in one article that Nixon violated the Constitution by not acting fast enough to set special election dates to fill vacant seats in the House and the Senate.

No action has been taken on those articles since they were filed a month ago.

Brattin says those legislators raise important issues and he hopes their filings and his will be allowed to move through the legislative process.

“We swore an oath to uphold, defend the Constitution before any type of legislative agenda … before anything. When we have somebody acting out of the Constitution and out of their authority, then they should be held to account,” Brattin tells Missourinet. “I think it should move and I’m appalled that it really hasn’t, unfortunately.”

Brattin says it is a political decision not to take up the arguments against Nixon.

“It’s an election year and we have a lot we want to do legislatively for jobs and things like that, and I’m right there too,” says Brattin, “and I have constituents all the time saying, ‘We see Barack Obama doing all this type of stuff and why isn’t anybody doing anything?’ We here at the state level wonder why isn’t the federal government doing anything? Well, we right here at the state level have the same thing going on with our governor. Are we not going to stand up and do what we’re calling the federal government to do?”

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) says the three filings are still being studied.

“We want to make sure we move them forward in the right way,” Jones says. “We’re going to have to go back and look what was done with the previous articles and I think they were moved to a committee for study, and so we’ll have to look at that prior determination and move along that same track.”

Articles of impeachment move through the legislative process in the House similarly to the way a bill would. They would have to be first referred to a committee. If the articles are passed in the House, Nixon would be tried by a commission of seven eminent jurists elected by the Senate.

Two Articles of Impeachment filed against Governor Nixon (AUDIO/COPY OF THE ARTICLES)

Articles of Impeachment filed against Governor Nixon over action on same-sex tax filing

Openly-gay lawmaker discusses impeachment effort over same-sex tax filing (AUDIO)