Author: KMIZ

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former pro-baseball player from Columbia was denied a new trial at his sentencing hearing on Monday.

Blake Tekotte, 38, was found guilty by a jury in July of second-degree domestic assault and kidnapping. The judge sentenced him to 10 years in the Department of Corrections, but he could have the possibility of being released earlier.

Court documents say he attacked a woman and held her against her will in November 2023. He also threw the victim’s phone before pinning her against the wall and hitting her.

Tekotte was sentenced to seven years for the domestic assault charge and three years for the kidnapping charge. The judge ordered the terms run consecutively for a total of 10 years.

The judge also ordered that Tekotte participate in a 120-day program while in the Missouri Department of Corrections. If he completes the program successfully, he will be released after 120 days and be on probation. Melissa Buchanan, Boone County’s First Prosecuting Attorney, explained that Tekotte would also be expected to be screened for and participate in one of the Boone County treatment courts.

Attorneys for Tekotte argued that the jury pool in the July trial was tainted. Court documents filed said that his lawyers claim the state referenced a previous incident at the Lake of the Ozarks that Tekotte was involved in but never charged for. His legal team also alleged that witnesses of the state referenced a video of that incident, when the video was not allowed in court.

They also said a witness communicated to the jury during a sidebar between attorneys and the judge when the attorneys were not paying attention. Ultimately, Judge Jacobs sided with the state’s argument and denied an acquittal of the charges or a new trial.

He also can not have contact with the victim in this matter.

His victim gave a statement in the courtroom. Buchanan said that the woman’s statement spoke to how insidious cases of domestic violence can get.

“This wasn’t the first incident; these things don’t happen in a vacuum. She came forward, we believed her, the jury believed her, and it was a good outcome, but she did have to go through that process. It’s a painful process,” Buchanan said.

Tekotte was also charged earlier this year in a separate case with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree domestic assault involving a different victim and a separate incident.

Tekotte will face a Boone County judge on Oct. 10th for those pending charges.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department’s new crime data dashboard is now up and running.

Starting Monday, residents can see more detailed information about crimes that have been reported at and near specific locations in Columbia.

Data is also included about the statistics on reported crimes for the past month, year, along with by date, location and type of crime.

Police Chief Jill Schlude said in a news release that this is part of the department’s effort to keep the public informed.

“By sharing accurate and timely crime data, we aim to provide a clear and honest picture of public safety in our city,” Schlude said in the release. “Reliable data empowers both the department and the community to identify trends, respond effectively and work together on long-term solutions.”

The data will be updated daily, according to the department.

The website includes a crime summary dashboard that has information broken down into the categories of crimes against persons, property and society.

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Madison Stuerman

Editor’s Note: A correction has been made to the number of students enrolled in 2024.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri is seeing more students this year, according to preliminary data.

In a news release, the University said early numbers show there are more than 31,300 students enrolled for the fall semester. This is compared to 30,874 enrolled last fall, according to university data.

There are reported to be more than 6,000 first-time college students, along with 1,200 new transfer students, according to the release. They will be joining more than 1,400 new graduate and professional students enrolled this fall.

“We are proud to welcome all Tigers to campus and to prepare the next generation of leaders who will make an impact in Missouri and beyond,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said in the release.

Official enrollment numbers will be finalized next month.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man has been charged after he was accused of leaving two children in a hot car.

Shaun Rottman was charged with two counts of first-degree child endangerment, creating a substantial risk.

Court documents state that officers were dispatched for a lockout at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday to a redacted location. Dispatch notes said multiple kids were sweating and crying after they were left unattended in a hot car.

Police said they made contact with Shaun Rottman, who allegedly admitted to leaving both children in the car to use the bathroom and that he was inside the building for about 30 minutes.

Documents state Rottman because aware of the children being in distress after the fire department contacted him.

Police said it was reported to be 82 degrees outside while the car was off and the windows were rolled up. Rottman allegedly told officers one of the children had autism and that he knew the child needed “a higher degree of care than the average child,” according to documents.

Officers said Rottman told them it was not normal for him to leave the child unattended for extended periods of time.

Online records show that he posted bond before the jail received the signed warrant, with a bond amount set by the on-call judge. His bond was set at $5,000.

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Gabrielle Teiner

A 17-year-old from Bland, Missouri, was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Gasconade County on Sunday night, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

The report states that a 2007 Jeep Liberty driven by a 26-year-old Bland man with three passengers, a 17-year-old from Bland, a 22-year-old Belle man and a 37-year-old Bland man was heading south on 4th Street, about 600 feet north of Pam Drive in Owensville.

The Jeep went off the right side of the road, hit three mailboxes, a utility pole and a driveway embankment before becoming airborne. The Jeep hit the ground and rolled, throwing everyone from the car, before coming to a rest upright.

The 17-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other three suffered serious injuries from the crash.

The 22-year-old was flown to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, while the 26-year-old and 37-year-old men were taken to Mercy Hospital in Washington, Missouri, by ambulance.

The report states neither the driver nor the passengers were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. The Jeep was totaled.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Police Department said it has gotten false reports in the past, and it takes up time and wastes resources to verify that the incident is false.

“‘Swatting’ calls are dangerous, disruptive and waste valuable law enforcement resources. While many of these calls turn out to be hoaxes, MUPD treats every report as credible until it can be properly assessed,” university spokesperson Nicholas Tietsort wrote in a statement.  

Many universities across the U.S. have received false reports of on-campus shootings this month, including the University of South Carolina.

Reese Dorsett, an MU junior studying French, said she doesn’t think people are taking school shootings as seriously as they should.

“It’s definitely scary, and especially I feel like we’ve had a lot of pushback from the government and everything like that about gun safety,” Dorsett said.

She said she feels safe on and around campus, but not beyond.

“If you stick around campus, kind of downtown, I do tend to feel safer, especially at night and everything. But once you get kind of a little bit to the outskirts, it feels a little dodgy,” she said.

MUPD communicates emergencies via the MU Alert app.

Last week, an alert went out letting students know about a shots-fired call near the 900 block of South Providence Road. It was actually a car backfiring.

Zachary Hardy, a junior studying psychology, said he wasn’t in town for that alert, but he got alerts last year while on campus.

“Luckily, I’ve always been on the other side of campus or not downtown,” Hardy said about last year’s alerts.

His friends were living in the area where the alerts went off, and he said they were mostly unworried.

“They avoided the area, generally, and avoided going outside if they were home or something,” Hardy said about his friends who lived near the alerted areas. “After we got the all-clear texts, they weren’t worried about it afterwards.”

MUPD officers are trained on active-shooter and other scenarios, Tietsort said.

Anyone looking for more resources on what to do during an active-shooter scenario can visit MU’s website.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man has been charged after he was accused of leading police on a chase Friday night.

Jarvis Chevis, 34, of Columbia, was charged with five felonies, including possession of controlled substance, third-degree assault with a special victim, resisting arrest, first-degree property damage and tampering with physical evidence.

Court documents state police saw a dark colored 2008 Dodge Charger make a left turn from College Avenue onto East Broadway when the light was red.

The officer tried to make a traffic stop, but the car, which is registered to Chevis, did not stop.

Documents state this led to a pursuit that lasted 35 minutes and was stopped due to the danger to the public multiple times and restarted when it was safe.

Officers said the car was reported to be going 50 miles per hour in residential neighborhoods. Chevis was also allegedly to have been driving on the wrong side of the road, making illegal U-turns, and running multiple stop signs and stoplights.

Chevis allegedly ran over a fire hydrant near the intersection of Ash Street and McBaine Avenue. Police said the hydrant was broken, causing $1,000 worth of damage.

Police said Chevis did not listen to the officer’s command to get out of the vehicle after hitting the hydrant. Documents state that they broke the window and tased him to remove him from the vehicle.

During his arrest, officers reported finding a small bag of a white substance, which later tested positive for cocaine, in his mouth that he was trying to swallow. Another bag with white powder was found in the car, according to documents.

Court documents state that while taking Chevis into custody, three Columbia police officers sustained physical injuries, causing them to bleed. One officer had glass removed from his hand by medics.

According to police, Chevis has a revoked driving status and has three convictions for it in the last ten years. He was also reported to be on probation for possession of a controlled substance and forgery.

He was booked into the Boone County jail on Friday and is being held without bond.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two people have died after a crash on Sunday night in Gasconade County.

Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report states the crash happened on 4th Street near Pam Lane in Owensville at 9:15 p.m. Sunday.

Troopers said a 26-year-old from Bland was driving a 2007 Jeep Liberty with three passengers on 4th Street on Sunday when it went off the side of the road.

The report states that after going off the side of the road, the car hit multiple mailboxes, a utility pole and a driveway embankment. After hitting the embankment, the car went into the air and flipped when it hit the ground, throwing all four people from the Jeep.

Troopers reported a 17-year-old boy from Bland died at the scene.

A 22-year-old man from Belle was taken by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Saint Louis, where he was pronounced dead at 9:54 a.m. on Monday.

The driver and a 37-year-old man from Bland were both taken to Mercy Hospital Washington with serious injuries.

None of the people in the Jeep were wearing a seatbelt, according to the report.

The Jeep was reported to be totaled.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Waynesville man was hurt on Monday after an early morning crash.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the crash happened at 12:44 a.m. on Highway NN near Springer Lane in Pulaski County.

Troopers said a 54-year-old man was driving a 2025 Dodge Durango when he went off the right side of the road, hit a ditch and flipped.

The driver was taken by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Springfield with serious injuries.

The crash report states he was not wearing a seat belt.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 58-year-old woman was crushed by a boat that she was attempting to tie to the dock on the Lake of the Ozarks.

The woman is from Junction City, Kansas, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s online report. The report states that she was tying up the boat at about 7:14 p.m. Sunday at the 8-mile marker of the main channel when the 40-foot Sea Ray drifted, pinning her between the boat and the dock.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Lake Regional Hospital with serious injuries.

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