Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Landscaping work at Calvary Episcopal Church in downtown Columbia next week will require a sidewalk and a parking lane to be closed, according to a Thursday press release from the city.

The release says that crews will close a portion of the sidewalk on Locust Street – between Eighth and Ninth streets – beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Five metered parking spaces on the north side of the street will also not be accessible, the release says.

Work is expected to be completed by 7 p.m. Friday, July 11.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was accused of wielding an ax and threatening a man at the Business Loop 70 Taco Bell in Columbia after midnight on Thursday.

Allen Hauck, 29, of Columbia, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says that authorities received a call at 12:04 a.m. Thursday about a man with an ax following people near the Business Loop McDonald’s. Police received more phone calls about the man at 12:43 a.m.

Hauck was eventually detained at the Taco Bell and a hatchet was found on the ground near the building, court documents say.

A victim allegedly told police that he saw Hauck following women around the area while holding the hatchet, the statement says. The victim allegedly confronted Hauck, who then allegedly replied with “I’m coming for all y’all,” while holding the ax, the statement says. The victim then walked away and Hauck followed him, court documents say.  

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A crash involving an SUV closed eastbound Interstate 70 temporarily Thursday afternoon and caused traffic backups for hours.

An ABC 17 News reporter saw a crossover SUV on its top being towed from the scene. An ambulance left the scene with lights on. The crash happened at around 2 p.m. Traffic backups continued at 4 p.m.

The Boone County Fire Protection District wrote in a Thursday afternoon social media post that two people were brought to area hospitals.

The post says that multiple callers saw an overturned vehicle in a construction zone.

“Firefighters arrived on scene to find a single vehicle on its roof. A 360-degree scene size-up confirmed two occupants and a lane closure on eastbound I-70. Firefighters began patient care and turned both individuals over to arriving EMS crews,” the post says.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report says that a 79-year-old woman and a 78-year-old man – both from Wellsville – were brought to Boone Hospital by ambulance.

The report says the man drove a 2014 Lincoln MKKX into a rail and it became airborne and overturned. The vehicle faced westbound while blocking the driving lane.

Both people in the crash were wearing seatbelts. MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Pulaski County man has been charged with two child sex crimes after he allegedly sexually assaulted a child.

Devin Crossland, 25, was charged in Pulaski County with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child involving sexual contact and first-degree sodomy of a victim younger than 12 years old. A warrant was issued and a $500,000 bond was set.

Crossland previously pleaded guilty on April 9, 2024, to second-degree rape in Pulaski County and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He is being held at Farmington Correctional Center.  

A forensic interview was held with the child victim on July 13, 2024, after the child allegedly told their foster mother about assaults occurring while in the care of their biological mother, according to the probable cause statement.

The child victim described multiple sexual assaults to law enforcement and claimed they told their mother about them after it occurred, but the biological mother did not do anything or report the crime, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who was described as a “worship leader” in court documents – who was charged earlier this year with a child sex crime in Morgan County – has been charged again in Pulaski County.

George Hancock, 36, of Richland, Missouri, was charged in Pulaski County on Wednesday with first-degree statutory rape. A warrant was issued and a $500,000 bond was set. He is currently being held at to Morgan County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

He was charged earlier this year in Morgan County with first-degree statutory rape. A pretrial conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 22 and a jury trial is set for 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

The probable cause statement in the recently filed case says that he met the child victim through church in December 2023 and that multiple assaults occurred throughout 2024. The assaults were discovered by someone described as a witness who saw text messages on the victim’s phone, the statement says. Hancock seemingly admitted to the assaults in a text message exchange with the victim, the statement says.

Previous reporting indicates he met the victim in the Morgan County case through the social media app Discord.

Hancock allegedly crashed his vehicle when his wife confronted him about the assaults during a phone call, the statement says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri’s House members split down party lines in their votes on the “one big, beautiful bill” Thursday, with Republicans praising President Donald Trump’s signature piece of legislation.

The bill includes budget cuts to Medicaid and food programs while also cutting taxes and boosting spending for defense and border security. The House passed it 218-214 after Democrat Hakeem Jeffries held the floor for more than eight hours to delay the vote.

Rep. Mark Alford (R-Raytown), who represents a large chunk of Mid-Missouri in the Fourth Congressional District, called the vote “a watershed moment.”

“This critical legislation delivers on our mandate by enacting the America First agenda,” Alford wrote in a statement posted on social media. He went on to praise the legislation’s tax cut.

Rep. Bob Onder (R-Augusta), whose Third District also covers part of Mid-Missouri, focused on the tax cuts.

“Without this bill, Americans would have faced the largest tax increase in history,” Onder wrote. “We simply couldn’t let that happen.”

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Tarkio) focused on transportation in his statement on the bill’s approval.

“As Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I’m proud that we were able to include major investments in the U.S. Coast Guard to strengthen our border and national security,” Graves wrote. “It will also jumpstart the process of modernizing our nation’s aging air traffic control system and hiring more air traffic controllers to keep the flying public safe. This bill makes good on President Trump’s America First agenda and I look forward to seeing it signed into law.”

Graves’ Sixth Congressional District covers northern Missouri.

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Springfield) said that he and other conservatives “secured numerous guarantees to ensure fiscal sanity” ahead of the vote.

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem) spoke on the floor after Jeffries in his role as Ways and Means chair. Smith called Democratic claims that the bill would kick millions off their health care coverage “hogwash.”

Missouri’s two Democrats, Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City and Wesley Bell of St. Louis, opposed the bill, with Cleaver labeling it the “Big Ugly Bill” and a “moral monstrosity” in social media posts.

Cleaver said the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will take health care coverage from 17 million Americans, including 265,000 Missourians, and take food assistance from 5 million families.

Bell called Thursday’s action “one of the darkest votes in modern American history.”

Trump has said he plans to sign the legislation on Independence Day.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia woman was charged with four felonies after she allegedly attacked a woman while holding a BB gun on Wednesday.

Latara Woods, 40, was charged on Thursday with first-degree robbery, two counts of armed criminal action and a count of carjacking. She is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been set.

Woods allegedly told police that she was shot with a BB gun and had a welt on her arm, according to the probable cause statement. The victim allegedly told police that she had her child when Woods took the keys to a vehicle and grabbed the BB gun from the passenger seat, the statement says. The victim was able to take the BB gun back and shot Woods multiple times, the statement says she told police.

Video footage allegedly showed Woods walk up to the victim — while they were holding a child — and grab the BB gun and a purse from the victim, the statement says. The video allegedly showed the victim defend herself during an assault and hit Woods with a wood plank, but it did not show shots being fired, the statement indicates.   

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Matthew Sanders

EDITOR’S NOTE: The day of the week has been corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County firefighters reported no injuries after finding a vehicle on its side with a working power pole resting on it Thursday morning near Harrisburg.

The call came in a little before 8 a.m. for a crash with entrapment near Highway 124 and Route NN, the Boone County Fire Protection District wrote in a social media post. A fire district assistant chief arrived at the scene quickly and saw the vehicle on its side with the utility pole on top of it, the post states.

The vehicle’s lone occupant reported no injuries.

Boone Electric workers disconnected the power line, and eastbound Highway 124 was closed for about 30 minutes, the post says.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Wentzville man drowned on Wednesday evening at the Lake of the Ozarks.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 70-year-old man was on a 2002 Triton TR20PD boat when he fell overboard at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the 8-mile marker at Workmen Hollow Cove.

The drowning report states a bystander pulled him out of the water.

The man was not reported to be wearing a life jacket, according to the online report.

This is the first drowning reported by MSHP at the Lake of the Ozarks for the summer.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol begins its holiday counting period Thursday night for the Fourth of July weekend. MSHP is calling its safety efforts “Operation C.A.R.E”, a crash awareness and reduction effort.

During the 2024 counting period, the highway patrol reported 14 people killed and more than 500 hurt in Missouri in nearly 1400 traffic crashes over the holiday weekend. Troopers also arrested 149 people for driving under the influence.

AAA projects more than 70 million people will travel at least 50 miles or more from home for the independence day holiday, an increase of nearly two million more travelers compared to 2024.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is also stopping work on most maintenance and construction projects starting Thursday at noon until 6 a.m. Sunday Morning.

The 2025 Fourth of July holiday counting period will go through 11:59 p.m. Sunday night.

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