Police and courts in the Lexington, Ky., area
Herald-Leader Staff Report
Lexington police are investigating three Shell gas station robberies in three days, but investigators haven’t determined if the incidents are related.
The Shell at 1949 North Broadway was robbed about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said. The Shell on Man o’ War Boulevard and Saron Drive was robbed about 8:45 p.m. Monday night. And another Shell, at 2420 Richmond Road, was robbed Saturday.
Suspect descriptions were not immediately available.
By Steve Lannen
slannen@herald-leader.com
A woman was arrested Thursday after allegedly trying to bribe an official to issue her a driver’s license without taking the test.
Court records did not say how much Jyotsna S. Patel, 31, allegedly offered the official at the Fayette clerk’s office.
Patel was arrested and charged with bribery of a public servant, a felony. She pleaded not guilty Friday at her arraignment in Fayette District Court. She is expected to return to court on Nov. 24.
By Jim Warren
jwarren@herald-leader.com
Lexington police are looking for two men who tried to pull a woman from her car late Monday night.
According to an officer, the woman was in her car parked at an apartment complex at Tates Creek Road and Appian Way when two men tried to pull her out of her car.
The woman was talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone, and when he came to investigate the two men fled, police said.
Fifth-Third Bank Robbery Suspect on Nov. 3, 2008
An armed man wearing a disguise ran into the Fifth Third Bank, located at 2225 Versailles Road at approximately 11:44 a.m. today, displaying a handgun and demanding money. Bank tellers complied with his demands and the man fled the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. No one that was present was injured.
The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 6’0” to 6’2” tall and around 185 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans, a light colored long-sleeved jacket or shirt, a blonde wig and a transparent clown mask that had painted red lips and blue eyes. He was carrying a small tan bag. Attached are surveillance photographs taken of the suspect.
Anyone with information relating to this investigation is asked to please contact the Personal Crimes Section at (859) 258-3700 or Bluegrass Crime Stoppers at (859) 253-2020.
By Steve Lannen
slannen@herald-leader.com
Family members found Regina Renea Johnson dead on her bed in early April.
On Tuesday, more than six months later, authorities said publicly that the 44-year-old Lexington woman was murdered.
Jones was strangled and suffocated, said a Fayette County coroner’s press release on Tuesday. An autopsy was conducted in April at the state medical examiner’s office in Frankfort and later ruled a homicide.
“From day one, in my heart, I thought it was a homicide and not a natural cause of death,” said Camisha Young, a longtime close friend. “It’s been real hard just knowing she was murdered and not having any answer as to how.”
Lexington police Lt. James Curless said Tuesday evening that police early on thought Johnson’s death was suspicious.
“The more we looked at it, the more concerns we had about it,” he said.
Announcing the case in the local media could help shed more light on Johnson’s death, Curless said. “There are people we feel who have information that could help us resolve this case,” he said.
Last night, Young stood outside the apartments where Johnson died at 420 Rogers Road, off North Broadway and across from the Joyland Bowl and Park.
Johnson had lived there for about three months with three teenage children and a 2-year-old grandchild, Young said. Her daughter’s boyfriend also lived with them, she said.
She recalled a phone conversation she had with Johnson, who told her she was going to ask the boyfriend to move out of the house because she thought he was causing problems for her daughter.
Young, however, doesn’t know what happened next.
“There were four people in the house, no (signs of) breaking in. Somebody knows something,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Lexington police at (859) 258-3700 or call CrimeStoppers (859) 253-2020.
John Zambenini
Frankfort State-Journal
A Franklin County real estate developer has been arrested on drug trafficking charges after he was allegedly caught buying cocaine in Lexington for $19,000, according to police.
Ricky Layne Wentworth, 42, 2590 Bald Knob Road, is charged with conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance, according to Lexington metro police reports.
Police reports said Wentworth attempted to buy a kilo of cocaine from a police informant.
See full story in Frankfort State-Journal.
By Ashlee Clark
aclark@herald-leader.com
A Lexington man died Wednesday after he was shot outside an apartment complex on Sixth Street, police said.
Charles Irvin Holder, 31, of Lexington, died at University of Kentucky Hospital after the shooting about 7 a.m. at Coolivan Apartments at 551 West Sixth Street, according to the Fayette County coroner’s office.
Holder was one of four people in a car that pulled into the apartment complex’s parking lot Wednesday morning, Lexington police Sgt. Paul Williams said.
Charles Irvin Holder
Officers found Holder lying in the breezeway of an apartment.
Holder’s criminal record included burglary, assault, felony theft, driving under the influence, bail jumping and leading police on high-speed chases. He did stints in various county jails and state prison. Court records identify him as a brick mason.
Lexington police, who have not made any arrest in the case, ask that anyone with information call (859) 258-3700 or Crime Stoppers at (859) 253-2020.
Herald-Leader staff writer John Cheves contributed information to this story.
By Shawntaye Hopkins
shopkins@herald-leader.com
A man was shot multiple times in the torso early Thursday outside a club in North Lexington, Lexington police said.
Ludger Janvier, 32, was taken to University of Kentucky Hospital after Lexington police found him injured near Russell Cave and New Circle roads about 2:45 a.m.
He was listed in critical condition Thursday.
It appears the man was shot outside Diva’s Gentleman’s Club on Russell Cave Road, but he was on a nearby corner, Officer Ann Gutierrez, a Lexington police spokeswoman, said.
Gutierrez said police were called to the club twice for disorders before Janvier was found injured. But, at this time, investigators don’t think those incidents were related to the shooting.
Police do not have any suspects in the case and request that anyone with more information, please call 258-3700.
UPDATED with IDs of victim and driver.
By Shawntaye Hopkins
shopkins@herald-leader.com
A pedestrian crossing South Broadway near Red Mile during a rainstorm Wednesday morning died after he was struck by a Jeep, Lexington police say.
(David Stephenson | Staff) Lexington police technician David Bochenek, left, and Sgt. Paul Simms, right, investigated the scene of an accident involving a pedestrian on South Broadway at Gibson Avenue in Lexington Wednesday.
Authorities identified the man Wednesday afternoon as Eugene Childress, 74, after notifying family and next of kin.
Childress was struck while walking across South Broadway toward Rally’s restaurant about 7 a.m. He was not within a painted crosswalk, Lexington police Sgt. Paul Simms said.
Police say the driver, Shannon Hibbetts, of Georgetown, had the right-of-way, and charges are not expected against her. She was not injured.
“He was in a place that most people wouldn’t expect to see a pedestrian,” Simms said.
Hibbetts, who was headed to work at Saint Joseph Hospital, was traveling south on South Broadway, Simms said.
She told police she didn’t see the man until it was too late, and she stepped on her brakes immediately, Simms said. The Jeep stopped near American Avenue.
The wreck smashed the front of the Jeep. Childress was hit on his left side and had several injuries, including a broken leg and severe chest and head injuries, Simms said.
Hibbetts returned to the scene of the wreck as Lexington police’s Collision Reconstruction Unit worked a few hours after the accident.
The jeep was later towed by Bluegrass Towing Service.
Simms said it does not appear that speed or alcohol were factors in the crash. Hibbetts agreed to a blood test, but results will likely not be available for weeks. Simms said the rainy weather, and darkness, were probably significant factors.
Lexington police believe the she was traveling at, or below, the posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour, and the traffic light was green.
“Right now, we just don’t see any criminal culpability unless some things change down the road,” Simms said.
Herald-Leader Staff Report
A University of Kentucky student was arrested Friday and charged with assaulting another student who was critically injured last week after he was struck on the head with a bottle.
Kyle Andrew Almy, 24, of Hopkinsville, was charged with first-degree assault and is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center. He is currently listed in UK’s online student directory.
UK student Blair Smith, 19, was in fair condition at UK Hospital on Friday, according to the hospital’s public relations office.
Lexington police found Smith injured Sept. 27 on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue. It appears Smith walked to Euclid from nearby Aylesford Place, where police responded to a disorder about 2:48 a.m. but did not find a victim.
Officer Ann Gutierrez, a police spokeswoman, said police have not determined what caused the altercation. She said there were about 20 people near 328 Aylesford who dispersed when police arrived.
Earlier: UK student’s injuries critical, possibly caused in a fight
The latest from Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson
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