Crime

Kansas Bureau of Investigation

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation High Risk Warrant Team, supported by the Kansas Highway Patrol Special Response Team, were requested to assist in the execution of a search warrant in Macksville.

On Monday, August 1, at approximately 12:15 p.m., KBI agents arrived at 410 N. Sheaffer to execute a search warrant for Michael Lee, 41, of Macksville, Kansas. Lee was a City of Macksville employee, serving as a part-time police officer. He was being investigated for the Crime of Sexual Exploitation of a Child.

When law enforcement attempted to execute the search warrant, Lee barricaded himself in his residence and refused to comply with law enforcement orders to come out. An arrest warrant was then obtained for Interference with Law Enforcement.

Shortly before 6:35 p.m., Lee opened the door and stepped into the threshold with a gun in hand. Law enforcement attempted to subdue him with less lethal techniques. At approximately 6:35 p.m., Lee shot himself to death.

The investigation is ongoing. No further information will be released at this time.

Pawnee County Attorney

LARNED – Ruben Lopez-Lupercio, 44, and Axel Elian Gomez-Saldana, 24, both of Larned, appeared on bond in the Pawnee County District Court, Tuesday afternoon for an evidentiary Preliminary Hearing on one count of Felony Theft of property worth between $1,500 and $25,000.

The pair are accused of stealing eleven heifers. Evidence presented at the preliminary hearing indicated an investigation was opened after a State Cattle Brand Inspector recognized feedlot finished heifers attempting to be sold at the La Crosse sale barn on December 10, 2021.

The matter was then referred to the Attorney General’s Livestock/Brand investigation unit who determined some of the heifers were branded with a brand registered to a Pawnee County Feedlot. With the assistance of the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Department, it was later determined that Lopez-Lupercio and Gomez-Saldana were employed as cowboys at the feedlot near Pawnee Rock, Kansas. They were arrested without incident at the feedlot on January 6, 2022, after the feedlot ownership requested charges be pressed.

Following the hearing, the magistrate judge determined the State had presented sufficient evidence to support the charge and bound the pair over to the higher court. Arraignment has been scheduled for September 15, 2022.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.