Police and courts in the Lexington, Ky., area
Bill Robinson of the Richmond Register gives this report about a Berea man who went to his bathroom Dec. 15 to investigate what appeared to be a broken window. His investigation led to a 6-foot-2, gun wielding intruder. The intruder fled, the home owner gave chase, eventually hopping into the intruder’s van when he stopped at a stop sign.
Read Robinson’s story here: http://www.richmondregister.com
Herald-Leader Staff Report
Versailles investigators are looking into several leads on Tuesday surrounding a Monday night homicide.
Ricardo Velasco-Nanduca, 30, was shot and killed in Versailles Monday night, police said. He was taken to University of Kentucky Hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died, Versailles police said.
Police were called to 231 Montgomery Avenue about 8:30 p.m., Sgt. Ron Wyatt said, and found Velasco in the back yard. The man did not live at the house, Wyatt said.
Police are seeking two men in an older-model, blue, four-door Cadillac.
If you have any information, call Versailles police, (859) 873-3126.
The Associated Press
COVINGTON — A former insurance broker from Florence has pleaded guilty to stealing $571,000 from his clients.
James Pullen admitted in a plea agreement Monday he used his clients’ health-care premium payments to cover his company’s expenses from July 2003 until November 2004. He operated Triple Crown Financial Group.
Pullen peddled a self-funded health-care benefit program to Northern Kentucky companies such as James W. Berling Engineering in Fort Wright.
The Kentucky Enquirer reports the indictment handed down last month does not name the other companies Pullen defrauded. He has remained free on his own recognizance.
Pullen, who now lives in Alpharetta, Ga., faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced April 20.
FRANKFORT — William Scott Miller was supposed to arrive at Louisville airport Tuesday afternoon and head home to Frankfort, where he’d spend Christmas with his wife of about five years, their young daughter and his stepson.
But Miller, 42, was shot and killed Monday night during apparently random shootings on Dallas-area roads, authorities say. He had just unloaded a shipment and was going to park his truck in Texas and then fly home.
William Scott Miller, 42, is one of two people killed in freeway shootings during Monday evening rush hour in or near Dallas. (Photo provided to the Herald-Leader)
A Texas man was also killed in the shootings, and a third motorist was injured.
The suspect in at least one of the shootings was identified as Brian Smith, 37, a former Utah state trooper wanted on burglary and robbery warrants. Smith was critically injured when he shot himself during a standoff with police, authorities said.
In Frankfort, Miller’s wife, Shannon, said, “We’d been trying to get him off the road for a while now. He was gone too much. We didn’t see him enough.”
Her son, Jordan Riley, 14, nestled close to her as she sat on the family room sofa, surrounded by neatly wrapped presents in glistening wrapping paper and a tree decorated with baby pictures.
Jordan occasionally reached around to hug his mother, who was surrounded by family Tuesday as she wept.
The shootings, which happened within minutes of each other, started about 5:45 p.m. in a suburb of Dallas when a pickup truck pulled alongside a small Nissan stopped at a red light and the pickup’s driver began shooting, Garland police spokesman Joe Harn told The Associated Press in Dallas. The Nissan’s driver, Jorge Lopez, 20, of Rowlett, was killed.
Witnesses told police the pickup then drove off toward Interstate 635 in Dallas, where shots were fired at an 18-wheeler driven by Kenneth Black Harly. He was not injured, the AP reported.
Then the gunman continued west on the highway and shot into the United Van Lines rig that Miller was driving.
Dallas police Lt. Craig Miller told the AP that Miller was a hero.
“Despite being mortally wounded, he was able to control his rig to the point where other drivers weren’t injured,” Miller said.
An independent contractor, Miller had worked exclusively with Vincent Fister Inc. for about a year and a half, said Dennis Tolson, Vincent Fister’s president and general manager in Lexington.
“He was a fine man,” Tolson said. “He was a hardworking fellow who was trying to sustain his family. His customers loved him. Just a quality individual.”
After Miller was shot, police said, the shooter drove another half-mile on the interstate and fired at another semi-trailer. The driver, Gary Roberts, 46, was injured by debris and glass but not struck by any bullets, Bedford Wilhite, who works with Roberts at Dugan Truck Line, told reporters.
Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said his department has not been able to make a definitive connection between Smith and the killing of Lopez, but he acknowledged that Smith fit the description of the highway shooter: a balding, 40ish white man.
“We’re testing the bullets found in his vehicle with the other shootings,” Harn told reporters. “It’s just part of our investigation because of how close in time the events happened to each other.”
Miller said he thinks the suspect was angry and there was no pattern in selecting the victims.
“It’s just absolutely stunning to me that something like this would happen,” Wilhite told The Associated Press. “This is our way of surviving in this country — truckers hauling goods up and down the highways. Why would someone want to take potshots like this at our drivers?”
In Frankfort, Miller’s family struggled with that same question.
Shannon Miller had planned to pick up her husband about 12:50 p.m. Tuesday at Louisville airport. He would leave again on Sunday.
She said she had rarely seen her husband, whom they referred to as Scott, since he started driving the truck about two years ago. He was home with his wife, stepson and 5-year-old daughter, Daliah, maybe one day a month.
He was never home more than two or three days at a time, Shannon Miller said. He was barely home for Thanksgiving.
“He was determined to be a good provider and take care of us,” she said.
There was also little time for Scott Miller to do the things he loved — hunting and fishing on a farm in Franklin County, playing poker, flipping channels on his big-screen TV, and riding his 1999 Softail Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
“He always said that was the best therapy,” his wife said.
Spurlin Funeral Home in Lancaster, where Scott Miller grew up and still has relatives, is handling arrangements, which were incomplete Tuesday.
WFAA: Video report of the shootings
Lexington police said Friday afternoon they’ve arrested a Nicholasville man in connection with a home invasion near Shillito Park Wednesday night, and have an arrest warrant for the alleged getaway driver. 
David J. Amole, 23, was charged with first-degree robbery. An arrest warrant on the same charge was obtained for Billy J. Leedy Jr., 31, of Nicholasville, according to police.
Lt. James Curless said Leedy was the getaway driver at a home invasion at an apartment at 3500 Beaver Place, near Nicholasville Road and Man o’ War Boulevard.
The resident told police he shot one of the intruders, who later died at the University of Kentucky Hospital, after the men entered his apartment about 10:45 p.m. The resident was also shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The alleged intruder, who died of a handgun shot to his chest, was identified by the Fayette County coroner’s office as Anthony L. Bell, 27.
Witnesses told police they saw the other alleged intruder running away toward Shillito Park. The man was described as about 6 feet 3 inches tall and wearing a dark gray, hooded jacket.
Police say there were no signs of forced entry at the apartment. The resident opened the door after the two men knocked.
Lexington police asked that anyone with information call the Personal Crimes Section at (859) 258-3700 or Bluegrass Crime Stoppers at (859) 253-2020.
Herald-Leader Staff Report
A Lexington man was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for laundering money for a $60 million organized retail theft ring. Abduhl Sulaiman, 47, owned the Stop N Shop Discount Food on Winburn Drive in Lexington.
Federal prosecutors say he cashed checks for a retail theft ring organized by a Louisville business called Alpha Trading, which allegedly dealt in stolen baby formula and health and beauty products.
In June, a federal jury in Lexington convicted Sulaiman of money laundering, conspiracy and failure to file currency transaction reports.
Sulaiman was sentenced by Judge Jennifer Coffman on Friday at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Lexington.
Herald-Leader Staff Report
A former member of the Army National Guard was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for receiving child pornography.
Matthew Emmett Dickerson, 28, pleaded guilty in October to ordering monthly Internet subscriptions that included more than 500 photographs and four videos containing images of child pornography. Some of the images included children as young as 6.
The images were recovered on Dickerson’s computer in June 2008 while he was a member of the National Guard, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lexington.
An Adair County woman has been charged with abusing a 3-year-old boy by pouring hot candle wax on his leg, state police said.
Angelina D. Kinnett (WLEX)
Eddie Foster called the Kentucky State Police post in Columbia at 3:15 a.m. Friday and said his girlfriend, Angelina D. Kinnett, had abused his son, according to a news release.
A trooper and a social worker investigated and found that someone had placed the boy, Jay D. Foster, in a bathtub and poured hot wax on his leg from the knee down, according to the release.
He was taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville for treatment.
Police charged Kinnett, 26, with first-degree criminal abuse.
Police are still investigating but don’t yet know the reason for the alleged attack, said Trooper Billy Gregory, spokesman for the Columbia KSP post.
Kentucky State police on Thursday released this information about their enforcement plans for the holidays:
The month of December is filled with joy in Kentucky as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve are celebrated. Friends and family will gather for holiday dinners, parties and other festivities.
Every year law enforcement officials make a plea to those who drink to stay off the roads. While drunk driving is a horrible crime any day of the year, statistics show that the holiday season is by far the worst period for crashes involving alcohol.
KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer indicated that 25 people died on Kentucky roadways between December 20th and December 31st last year.
“Life is too precious to be lost in a senseless tragedy that causes indescribable hardship,” said Brewer. “KSP has a ‘no-tolerance’ policy. If you are caught driving under the influence, you will go to jail.”
Brewer advised that KSP will be boosting road patrols and operating safety checkpoints statewide during the holiday period. For maximum effectiveness, Troopers will coordinate enforcement activities with local police to target high-risk areas and use radar and laser equipment to assist their efforts.
Even though Kentucky is experiencing a decline this year in traffic fatalities, 778 individuals have already been killed in motor vehicle crashes. The state reports that 167 of those deaths were from alcohol-related crashes.
Much has been done over the years to reduce impaired driving in Kentucky and other states - and more can be done. Prevention starts with responsible hosts who do not allow guests to leave a party and then drive impaired. It continues with aggressive law enforcement strategies and courts that impose stern sentences authorized by the Legislature.
Contrary to what many people think, most fatal crashes involving alcohol do not involve repeat offenders. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that in 2006, just seven percent of drivers in fatal crashes with high blood-alcohol levels (0.08 percent or higher) had previous alcohol-impaired driving convictions on their records.
Garrett Fowles, legal counsel for the City of Richmond, prosecutes Driving Under the Influence (DUI) cases in Madison county. He warns that even first-time offenders will incur hefty penalties.
“In my experience in Madison County, a DUI subject with an alcohol level of .08 but less than .18 can expect to incur service sanctions including fines, court costs and fees totaling approximately $750.00 to $1,050.00,” said Fowles.
“Additionally, first-time offenders receive a license suspension of ninety days and mandatory Alcohol and Drug Education (ADE) training,” added Fowles.
Captain Tim Lucas, Commander of the Highway Safety Branch urges friends and family members to take the keys away from anyone who consumes alcohol and arrange for them to be driven home.
“In 2007, Kentucky law enforcement made 45,304 DUI arrests in the Commonwealth,” remarked Lucas. “We need every citizen’s help to keep impaired drivers off the road.”
KSP established a toll-free number (1-800-222-5555) that citizens can call to report impaired or erratic drivers.
“It is our hope that every family will have a safe holiday season,” said Lucas. “Please buckle up, slow down and drive sober.”
View crash statistics holiday-fatal-crashes-2003-20071
Herald-Leader Staff Report
A former Beaumont Junior High School science teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to sodomy and rape charges stemming from allegations by two students in the late 1970s. 
Jack Russell Hubbard, 61, appeared in Fayette Circuit Court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of first-degree rape. Former students Thomas “Beau” Goodman III and Carol Lynne Maner made the accusations.
Hubbard, who now lives in Texas, was arrested in July 2007 in Pennsylvania as Maner testified in a civil trial in Lexington against the Fayette County school board. Maner, who accused the school board of ignoring a pattern of alleged sexual abuse against her by several school board employees, won a $3.9 million verdict. An appeal by the board is pending.
On Friday, Judge James D. Ishmael Jr. scheduled a pretrial conference Jan. 29, at which time any motions will be discussed. A trial date might be scheduled during a status conference Jan. 30. The dates were set on consecutive days to cut down on Hubbard’s travel time from Texas.
The Herald-Leader generally does not identify people who allege sexual abuse. But Maner came forward after she filed the civil lawsuit, and Goodman’s attorneys have discussed the case after Maner filed her lawsuit.
The latest from Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson
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