Bishop Ward High School is holding a community day focused on health and fitness. Located in a county with many documented health challenges, Bishop Ward invites the entire community to come out for the free “Be Active!” event on Saturday, April 23.
Bishop Ward’s Be Active Day will feature fun and fitness events such as a bike ride and a KCKPD vs. KCKFD flag football game. A baseball game will cap-off the day as guests watch the varsity Cyclones swing it out against Catholic rival St. Mary’s Colgan High School of Pittsburg, Kan. All events will take place at Bishop Ward’s outdoor athletic complex located on the corner of 16th and Barnett, in Kansas City, Kan.
Registration for the 6th annual Tour de Cyclone Country begins at 8 a.m. with riders leaving at 9 a.m. Open to the entire family as a free event, this is a fun ride for bikers of all ages and abilities. Roll through the historic neighborhoods of Wyandotte County on a 22-mile or 40-mile route.
If you don’t ride, there will still be plenty to do early morning with the family. There will be active games for the kids including jump roping, hopscotch, volleyball and soccer. The track will be open for walkers and mini-tricycles. There will also be face painting, water balloons and a salsa contest! All attendees will have an opportunity to meet Bishop Ward coaches and a chance to win free Bishop Ward summer camp registrations.
Beginning at 10:30 a.m., Bishop Ward and the KC United Sports Initiative invite you to cheer on local heroes in the Battle of the Badges, where the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department will face off against the KCK Fire Department in flag football. Admission is free and concessions will be available for purchase.
The Cyclone Baseball teams will face off against rival St. Mary’s Colgan – two of the best baseball programs in the state. Varsity plays at noon and JV will play at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for students, kids under kindergarten and seniors over 55 enter free. There will be special fan giveaways while supplies last.
– Story from Joshua Sukraw, marketing and social media manager, Bishop Ward High School
Three men have been charged in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., with robbing the UMB Bank at 8300 Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kan., at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, April 16.
Jonathan L. Dehaven, Brandon J. Wright and Darus D. Mebane were charged with robbing the bank, according to the criminal complaint. A handgun was used, the complaint stated.
The currency given to the robbers included some bait bills and two electronic tracking devices. The robbers also took two cell phones from two tellers, the complaint stated.
After the bank robbery, a high-speed chase at speeds estimated at 80 to 90 miles per hour ended at 51st and Leavenworth Road, where the suspect vehicle crashed into three other vehicles. Five persons in all, including two suspects, were injured, according to the police statement at the time.
Police recovered $20,877 in a green knapsack, according to the criminal complaint. They also recovered an orange mesh vest, a Bersa .380 semi-automatic handgun and two cell phones. A red and black Jordan sneaker was recovered that matches a footprint left on the UMB teller counter, according to the criminal complaint.
The case is being handled by attorneys in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri because an assistant attorney for the U.S. attorney’s office of Kansas is a witness in the case. The case is expected to be tried in federal court in Kansas City, Kan.
The assistant U.S. attorney, according to the criminal complaint, had been planning to meet someone at UMB at 9 a.m., but was a little late, parking near the front door of the bank and waiting in her car. She observed two males entering the bank. After moving her car to a nearby spot, the assistant attorney then saw the two males exit the bank and start running across Parallel Parkway, south on North 83rd Terrace and then east on Garfield.
The assistant attorney then followed the two males in her vehicle and called 911, according to the criminal complaint. The two males eventually split up, one going north toward Quik Trip on 82nd and Parallel, and the second one cutting through the backyards of neighborhood houses, the criminal complaint stated.
Kansas City, Kan., Police Department officers tracked the suspects using two electronic tracking devices taken during the bank robbery, according to the criminal complaint.
One officer was receiving this electronic tracking information, and was at 71st and Rowland in Kansas City, Kan., when he saw a white GMC Yukon occupied by two persons, and attempted to stop it, according to the criminal complaint.
The Yukon initially stopped, but when the officer left his patrol vehicle, the Yukon took off northbound on 72nd Street, according to the court document. The officer pursued the Yukon north on 72nd and then east on Leavenworth Road, with speeds reaching 80 to 90 mph, the criminal complaint stated.
A second officer joined the pursuit at 67th and Leavenworth Road.
At 51st and Leavenworth Road, the Yukon was involved in a multi-car crash, according to the criminal complaint. Witnesses said one of the occupants of the vehicle fled on foot to the southeast, and Jonathan L. Dehaven was arrested shortly thereafter, the criminal complaint stated. He had minor injuries from the crash.
An officer stated that Darus Donte Mebane fled the area of the vehicle and ran south, and the officer pursued him on foot, according to the criminal complaint. The officer saw him jump a fence near a building on the southeast corner of the intersection. Mebane then surrendered to the officer, according to the criminal complaint. He had suffered significant injuries in the crash and was taken to the hospital, the complaint stated.
A third police officer saw an injured man on the ground directly in front of the Yukon, bleeding profusely from the head and arms, according to the criminal complaint. A witness identified the man as Brandon J. Wright, and said he had crawled out of the suspect vehicle and fallen down on the ground, according to the criminal complaint. There was a trail of blood from the back hatch door along the passenger side of the vehicle, ending where Wright was found, according to the statement in the criminal complaint. He was taken to a hospital.
Besides the involvement of the Kansas City, Kan., police officers, the case was handled by the FBI.
The suspects face 25 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if they are convicted of the bank robbery. This was the crash scene near 51st and Leavenworth Road after bank robbery suspects were chased through Kansas City, Kan. on Saturday, April 16. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
