Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man has been charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor after authorities claim he ran someone over with his Jeep Wrangler on Wednesday.

Isaiah Aust, 19, is charged in Boone County with first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. He is being held at the Boone County Jail on a $50,000 bond. A court date has not been set.

The probable cause statement alleges that Aust tried to punch a woman before getting into the Jeep and running over someone’s hand. The action, which was witnessed by two people, allegedly led to a cellphone in the victim’s hand breaking, court documents say.

Aust allegedly admitted to police that he drove to the address in the Jeep and another person allegedly claimed they heard a “thurd” as he drove away, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Sedalia man is facing a pair of felony counts related to child pornography.

Leif Rasa is charged in Pettis County with first-degree promoting child pornography and child porn possession. He is not currently in custody, but a warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday.

Court documents alleged that Rasa uploaded three child porn files to a group chat on the social media application Snapchat on Nov. 19, 2025. Authorities were notified about the issue about a month later.

Police have not been able to contact Rasa because “he does not have an active phone number,” but law enforcement has contacted family members of his to let him know they are looking for him.  

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Rock Bridge Elementary School student was found with a BB gun in their backpack before dismissal on Thursday, according to an email from a district spokeswoman.

Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark shared an email to ABC 17 News that was sent to parents following the incident.

“We were alerted to it when the student showed the item to another student and it was reported immediately to administration. The BB gun was confiscated, and we are taking appropriate disciplinary action. Columbia Public Schools Safety and Security was notified,” the email says.

The email also directed parents to a link on the district’s website that describes prohibited items.

“Please check your child’s backpack each day and make sure they are bringing to school only those items that belong there,” the email says.  

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Non-uniformed employees at the Columbia Police Department are looking to form a union.

An item listed in the consent agenda of Monday’s City Council meeting shows that the Columbia Police Civilians Association is seeking to be recognized by the city.

Meeting documents say the group filed a petition for certification with the State Board of Mediation, which was approved last month.

Meeting documents show that positions eligible to be represented within the department include records clerks, administrative technicians, records custodians, custodians, equipment technicians, policy and research specialists, digital forensic specialists, civilian investigators, community service aides, property and evidence technicians, crime analysts, crime scene investigators, public information specialists and inventory technicians.

Several other employees throughout the city have representation through LiUNA 955, the Columbia Police Officers’ Association or the Columbia Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 1055.

ABC 17 News has reached out to the union for comment.

Exhibit A to ResolutionDownload

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Alison Patton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri senators stayed late Wednesday to pass a new amendment to the income tax elimination plan and sent it back to the House just after midnight.

The Missouri Senate GOP posted on Facebook at 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, letting people know House Joint Resolutions 173 and 174 were on the Senate floor, and another update just after 12:30 a.m. stating they had passed.

Senators approved the income tax elimination plan 18-11, with Republican Sens. Lincoln Hough, Mike Moon and Joe Nicola voting against the new amendment. The amendment would get rid of the automatic triggers in the House version, allowing the 2027 General Assembly the ability to impose triggers they see necessary.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe showed his support for the advancement of his top legislative priority on social media Thursday morning.

“Following its passage in the Missouri Senate last night, HJR 173/174 now returns to the House — moving us one step closer to putting the future of modernizing our tax code where it belongs: in the hands of Missouri voters,” Kehoe wrote on Facebook.

Nicola, of Grain Valley, spoke to reporters about his decision to vote against the bill.

“I didn’t like how the process was handled last night,” Nicola said. “I’d love to see taxes go away. As many taxes as we possibly can get it. I would love it. But I’m very concerned about this process and even the process of how the bill came to the floor.”

He said he felt like the process was rushed, and the bill could have gone on the Senate floor at any time, instead of voting and debating it after the public had left the Capitol for the day.

The version introduced and passed by the House would establish a loose framework for next year’s lawmakers to work under. One of those frameworks was the trigger system, which would slowly phase out the income tax while expanding the sales and use tax base.

Sen. Curtis Trent (R-Greene County) said his amendment wouldn’t get rid of the trigger system, but it would loosen the requirements for triggers.

“While it would still be great policy to eliminate the income tax 30 years from now or 50 years from now, much of the benefit that we’re going to derive from this policy economically would not occur on a time frame that would be meaningful to the public,” Trent said.

Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck (D-St. Louis County) said after Wednesday’s 12-hour-long session, Democrats didn’t debate much and relied heavily on their interactions with constituents, as it will ultimately be the voters’ decision.

“We’ve been working on this for a while, and at the end of the day, this was the governor’s priority, and at the end of the day, we didn’t have enough Republicans, anti-tax, Republicans to defeat this bill,” Beck said.

The amended bill will need to be reviewed and discussed by the House. If passed out of the legislature, voters will be asked in November if they want lawmakers to proceed with eliminating the state income tax.

House minority leader Ashley Aune (D-Kansas City) said Democrats on the other side of the building are fighting against the bill.

“I was surprised that I didn’t see more robust opposition or serious filibuster effort from the Senate Democrats,” Aune said. “I can’t imagine a scenario where I would ask my caucus to sit down on that. I would fight to the very end. We have been fighting. We’ve been screaming on this side of the building.”

Aune also said her caucus has been talking with voters.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former West Middle School teacher who was arrested for a second time earlier this month is no longer listed on the Boone County Jail roster.

Zachary Hutchinson, of Columbia, is charged with felonies in two cases. In one case, he is charged with three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, one count of child enticement, sexually exploiting a minor, misdemeanor giving porn to a minor, second-degree promoting child porn and 10 counts of child porn possession.

He was originally put on house arrest after he bonded out of jail on Feb. 4. In a second case filed earlier this month, he is charged with three counts of child porn possession. A court filing from Tuesday says Hutchinson was given a $50,000 bond. He must report to Adult Court Services upon his release, court filings show.

Court documents in previous reporting say Hutchinson engaged in sexual acts with a youth and shared explicit text messages and photos with the same victim.

Authorities have repeatedly said the victim in the case did not meet Hutchinson “as a result of his employment, nor did any known contact occur on school property.”

More child porn was eventually found on a different messaging app, court documents say.

A hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man has been charged with first-degree rape in Cole County.

A warrant was requested on Wednesday for Tamiko Carter Jr., who was accused of raping a woman in her apartment while she slept on April11. He is not listed on the Cole County Jail roster.

A second man, Bruce Cannady, 32, of Jefferson City, was charged earlier this week with accessory to first-degree rape. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. A hearing was held on Wednesday and Cannady was denied a public defender. A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7.

Bruce Cannady [Cole County Jail]

Court documents say the victim had friends over the night of the assault and allegedly fell asleep next to Cannady, but awoke to Carter raping her. Cannady was allegedly looking into the bedroom from a hallway and allowed the assault the occur, court documents allege. Carter ran after the victim yelled and tried to defend herself, the statement says.

Both men were allegedly seen on video running from the home and Cannady had called the victim through a social media application while she was speaking with police, one of the statements say. A sexual assault exam was conducted at an area hospital, the statement says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An ICE agent has been charged with assault for an alleged road rage incident on a Minnesota highway during Operation Metro Surge.

Prosecutors in Hennepin County announced charges against Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., on Thursday. He is charged with two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly driving on the shoulder to pull beside another vehicle so he could point his service weapon at the occupants.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

President Donald Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire.

Trump wrote that the ceasefire will take effect at 4 p.m. Thursday, following the countries’ agreement reached during talks in Washington, D.C. Trump stated that he has directed a group, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine, to work with the countries on a peace deal during the ceasefire.

Israel has traded attacks with militant group Hezbollah since March after Hezbollah launched rockets in retaliation for Israeli and American strikes on Iran. The militant group has been in conflict with Israel for decades.

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Euphenie Andre

CLINTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

The National Weather Service has determined that two tornadoes moved through Clinton in southwest Missouri on Wednesday night.

Clinton Fire Chief Mark Manuel said the National Weather Service was in town Thursday morning, surveying storm damage.

“The first one on the southern portion of town was the EF-1,” Manuel said. “The second one about the northern portion of town was EF-0.”

According to Manuel, the last time the town had a tornado was 10 years ago.

People in Clinton were working to rebuild after Wednesday’s severe storm caused widespread damage across the community. Manuel said the town experienced minor-to-moderate damage.

“It seemed like everybody was handling the situation fairly well,” Manuel said. “Minor to minimal damage or moderate damage to some residential structures in town.”

At least two unoccupied outbuildings were destroyed, while Clinton Elementary School had damage to its rooftop HVAC units. Solar panels at the intermediate school were also damaged.

“Luckily, we had no injuries. We did not have a lot of property damage besides trees in town,” said Manuel.

Resident Isaiah Berry said he was driving back to Clinton from Columbia during the storm and described the ride as unforgettable.

“It got dark very quickly. We could see the storm rolling in,” he said. “We didn’t see any tornadoes touch down, but the conditions were bad. We drove through Sedalia and Boonville, and there was heavy rain and hail.”

Berry said the damage was limited, but the winds were strong.

“It was blowing some cars. You can see them swerving on the lanes a little bit, trying to keep in,” he said.

Manuel said that emergency alert systems performed as expected, with tornado sirens and other warnings activating properly. He added that Wednesday’s storm serves as an important reminder for residents to stay prepared during severe weather.

“The town is equipped with storm sirens. Those are designed for outdoor warning only. So if you’re in your house, you may not hear those outdoor sirens,” Manuel said. “So don’t depend on thee outdoor sirens to give you warning.”

He encourages residents to invest in a weather radio, have a safety plan in place, and remain alert during severe weather events.

Clinton School District students were learning from home on Thursday because of the damage. Angie Lawson, spokeswoman for the district, said the most significant damage was reported at Clinton Intermediate School, where a few air conditioning units were displaced or damaged, and a minor roof leak was identified.

Solar panels on the roof were also damaged but have since been safely disconnected. Crews have already begun repairs, with most systems expected to be restored quickly. A few units will need to be replaced.

School is set to be in session Friday.

Wednesday night, Henry County Sheriff Aaron Brown told ABC 17 News that a tornado appeared to have touched down near Calvird Drive between Second Street and Highway 13. Crews reported downed trees in several areas, and a building at American Building Products on Second Street was destroyed. No injuries were reported.

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