Author: KMIZ

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A temporary power outage has been scheduled for a Columbia neighborhood on Wednesday morning.

A Monday press release from the city says crews will remove fallen trees from an overhead power line.

“A tree has fallen onto a second tree, causing an issue with an overhead power line. For the crew to remove the tree safely, the power must be turned off,” the release says.

Power will be turned off between 8:30 a.m.-noon for the area near Lynwood Drive, Red Oak Lane and Crawford Street. About 70 city electric customers will be affected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Moniteau County man was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor after two children and an adult were injured on Monday night from a crash during a high-speed chase.

Jaden Bennett, 23, of California, Missouri, was charged on Tuesday in Cole County with aggravated fleeing, two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one count of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond.

The probable cause statement says a police officer saw Bennett drive through a red light in downtown Jefferson City and tried to conduct a traffic stop. Bennett stopped his vehicle and took off again when the officer got out of his vehicle, the statement says.

Speeds eclipsed 100 miles per hour and at one point Bennett’s vehicle became airborne, the statement says. He crashed his vehicle into a guard rail at the Summit Drive exit of Highway 54, the statement says.

An adult passenger, as well as a 12-year-old and 8-year-old were injured in the vehicle after the crash, police wrote.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

First responders from around the state gathered in Moberly on Tuesday for a two-day training focused on responding to active shooters.

The Active Attack Incident Management course brings together law enforcement, fire and EMS to train for how they would coordinate and manage resources during an incident.

The training is taught by Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training. ALERRT instructor Damian McKeon said the training focuses on the officers responding directly to a threat and establishing a command structure to manage everything happening around them.

“We need security outside. We need to form rescue task forces, and they escort the medical folks in there and get the patients out. And none of that can happen without an incident command framework to set it up in a move,” McKeon said.

McKeon said the first officers arriving during an active attack are trained to go toward the sound of gunfire. He said the training then focuses on the integrated response of fire and EMS and how they can coordinate.

McKeon said scenes can be fast-moving, emotional and intense, making repetition important for those who may eventually be responsible for managing a response.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety made the training available to law enforcement agencies in all nine regions of Missouri through federal grant funding. Jason Baillargeon, a homeland security specialist with the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said participating departments do not have to pay to send first responders to these trainings.

“It is it is free to local law enforcement, across the state. And the initiative went for all nine regions. So we are trying to incorporate the entire state. So we have trainings in all nine regions,” Baillargeon said.

Baillargeon said this is the first year the Missouri Department of Public Safety has offered active-shooter incident management training.

The course goes beyond the initial response of an individual officer to an active shooter.

“It is another process moving away from the officer on the ground dealing, dealing with this specific incident. But how to manage the crisis in its entirety and so I believe this is what you would call probably a ‘big brother’ to the initial training that took place and is still taking place across the state of Missouri today,” Baillargeon said.

Participants spend two days completing the training. Baillargeon said responders who are not already familiar with the concepts first learn them before putting those lessons into practice. During the exercises, first responders used iPads and tabletop scenarios to work.

“So with active attack incident management today, the students are able to one work with technology as well as a tabletop and go through a critical incident from start to finish. It may be it may be multiple critical incidents,” Baillargeon said.

Moberly Police Chief Bobby Calvert said the course allows first responders from different agencies to learn the same terminology and understand where resources need to go during a critical incident.

Some participants included the Hannibal Fire Department, Moberly Police Department and Randolph County Sheriff’s Department. Fire personnel are also learning how their role fits into a response alongside law enforcement.

Hannibal Fire Department Deputy Chief Dane Riefesel said this was his first time participating in scheduled training with his local police department for this type of scenario.

“I mean, unfortunately, if it does happen, I mean, you want to be prepared for it. So we try to prepare for everything that could could happen. And this is one of those things that I think is important to be ready for, to to help your community in a time of need,” Riefesel said.

Baillargeon said the DPS plans to continue the training through the rest of this year. He said locations are arranged for law enforcement officers to attend the training.

“We, we arrange locations and, then, of course, the law enforcement officers are able to come and so hope that they can come. And I’m hoping, we don’t know as of yet, but we’re hoping to continue this activity. Incident management training as Big Brother two, level one, active shooter training in the future. In 27,” Baillargeon said.

Baillargeon later said the department is planning to continue training into 2027, but the funding source and the direction DPS will take for the future remain undetermined.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Sedalia woman was arrested and booked into the Saline County Jail on Monday after she allegedly ran over a pedestrian.

Kesley Chalfant, 27, was charged in Saline County on Monday with second-degree assault, driving while intoxicated causing serious injury and misdemeanor reckless driving. She is being held at the Saline County Jail without bond.

The probable cause statement says law enforcement was called to “the area of Morrow near Conway” after a pedestrian was run over by a Toyota Camry. Three witnesses reported seeing the victim hit by the Camry.

The probable cause statement says Chalfant appeared to be intoxicated. She allegedly admitted to having two alcoholic drinks, but a breath test determined she had no alcohol in her system, the officer wrote. Chalfant allegedly admitted to using marijuana products after she failed field sobriety tests, the statement says.

Police found tablets and CBD products in Chalfant’s car, the statement says.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A sex offender who is under 20 years of supervised release was arrested on Monday night in Boonville.

Andrew Paul Capps, 26, was charged in Cooper County with being a sex offender at a public park and resisting arrest. He is being held at the Cooper County Jail without bond. He pleaded guilty in federal court on Aug. 5, 2021, to distributing and possessing child sex abuse materials.

The federal sex offender registry lists his address as Leavenworth, Kansas, as of June 11; though Casenet shows his residence as being in Columbia.

The probable cause statement says Boonville police found Capps at Rolling Hills Park after the park was closed and learned that he was a sex offender with a warrant for his arrest. When police tried to detain him, Capps allegedly ran off but was caught after he slipped on wet grass and fell, court documents allege.

Capps allegedly admitted to living in the park for two days, the statement says.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper was cited by Lake Ozark police for resisting arrest on July 11.

Travis Michael Wood, of Kirksville, was cited at 12:45 a.m. July 11 in the 1300 block of Bagnell Dam Boulevard. He has an initial court appearance scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17 at the Miller County Courthouse.

MSHP spokesman Justin Dunn confirmed that Wood is assigned to Troop B, which covers much of northern and northeast Missouri. Wood remains on duty.

A previous press release from MSHP shows that Wood graduated from the patrol’s Law Enforcement Academy on June 24, 2022, and began working on July 11, 2022.  That release said he was assigned to Adair and Schuyler counties.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman was charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors after authorities claim she drove a vehicle that was caught on camera while hitting two men during a June 29 hit-and-run incident.

Tracy Fairfax, 43, of Jefferson City, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, failure to register a vehicle and not having car insurance. She posted a $5,000 bond on June 30.

Previous reporting shows a Lincoln SUV hit two men at the intersection of Idlewood Drive and Route C in Jefferson City. Jesus Contreras, 32, and Roberto Gutierrez, 26, were injured in the crash, according to a June 30 crash report from Jefferson City police.

Police found Fairfax’s vehicle in the 3200 block of Missouri Boulevard on June 30. Fairfax first denied being involved in a crash before admitted that she was in a crash, but did not see the pedestrians crossing the road, the probable cause statement says.

One of the men who were hit allegedly held an F2 locator when they were hit, the statement says. Their employer allegedly told police the item no longer works and costs about $25,000.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) –

While more individual voting precincts in Columbia voted against Proposition 1, big turnout in parts of west Columbia powered the measure to pass.

Results for Proposition 1, the 1% increase in Columbia’s sales tax to help fund public safety, analyzed by ABC 17 News, show the race stayed tight across town. The city’s six wards split evenly for the measure. The First, Second and Third wards ultimately voted against it, while the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth wards voted for it.

Precinct results also stayed close. Nineteen precincts voted against Prop 1, 18 voted for it and one precinct in the Fifth Ward ended in a tie. The only two precincts whose leading result was greater than 60% were both in Ward 1, with the rest coming in between 50% and 59%.

The Boone County Clerk’s Office released more data on the August election results after certification on Monday. That includes precinct-level results, which show how specific areas of the county voted on different measures. Only two precincts shared voters from different wards.

The Fourth Ward produced the highest total votes cast for the race, as well as the biggest margin of victory for Proposition 1. The measure won in that ward by 534 votes, with 4,604 in favor and 4,064 against it. That ward, which covers parts of central, west and southwest Columbia, also featured a contested city council race on the ballot.

The First Ward, which comprises most of central Columbia and downtown, came back with the biggest margin against Proposition 1, with 331 more “no” votes than “yes.” That ward also had the lowest total turnout with 2,391 people casting ballots there.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After a couple of high-profile incidents on East Walnut Street in downtown Columbia, University of Missouri System President Mun Choi is asking city leaders to take action against a downtown Columbia bar.

Emails from Choi, which were provided to ABC 17 News by an MU spokesman, date back to April 19, after video of a downtown fight was shared online. Choi had addressed the email to Mayor Barbara Buffaloe and City Manager De’Carlon Seewood. Choi had linked an April 11 fight on Walnut Street to an April 19 incident in Iowa City – the hometown of the University of Iowa.

Choi’s April 19 email demanded that the city hire more police officers and staff a downtown unit, while calling a portion of Walnut Street “a danger zone.” That email was sent two weeks after Police Chief Jill Schlude announced the planned downtown unit launch would be delayed because of staffing issues.

Buffaloe had responded in an email to Choi, indicating “I know that they had been in talks with the business owner, who you also see in the video breaking up the fight, about what was needed to improve that block’s safety.”

Buffaloe also wrote in her April 20 response that “Besides this incident on the 11th, I had not heard of an incident happening in this block for months.

Choi sent emails to Seewood, Buffaloe, all City Council members and Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson on July 27, the day after a brawl occurred on Walnut and Ninth streets that led to seven people being arrested. At least one person was charged with a felony.

“I have lived here since ‘94 and I think this is the worst that I have seen it when it comes to crime,” Demetria Stephens told ABC 17 News. 

Choi specifically named Reign Bar in a follow-up email on Aug. 9. Reign Bar opened in October 2025, according to business information filed with the Secretary of State’s Office.

“It happened again at Walnut and 9th Streets. We continue to experience violent fights and gunfire outside Reign Bar. How many warnings about this establishment do you need to hear before meaningful action is taken?” Choi wrote in one of the emails addressed to Buffaloe, Seewood and Ward 1 Councilwoman Valerie Carroll on Aug. 9.  

“He [Choi] might want to be careful because if you’re going to single out one bar, we need to look at the whole downtown district,  because I know for a fact, years past recent time, of watching individuals entering bars on Broadway and I know they’re underage,” Stephens said. 

Similar wording was used by Choi in a July 27 email.

“It happened again. I am gravely concerned about what is happening in our city. Please provide more resources for police in downtown Columbia by prioritizing public safety over non-essential investments. A greater presence of police officers, technologies, moral support, and effective prosecution will send a strong message for deterrence,” the July 27 email from Choi says. “Without it, we’ll face continued violence and some with more tragic consequences like the incident at Iowa City downtown on April 19, 2026 that ended in gunshots with 5 injured including 3 University of Iowa students.”

“It’s just frustrating this stuff has been going on before we even opened and we get the blame,” Jerrion Nelson, general manager of Reign Bar, told ABC 17 News on Monday. “The big fight that happened, those are people that don’t come inside.” 

Nelson has extensive experience in Columbia’s bar industry. His grandfather owned Lou’s Lounge in Columbia, and after playing college football, Nelson returned to the city and worked security at MyHouse for six years.

After spending more than half a decade working in and around Columbia’s bar scene, Nelson believes Reign Bar has been unfairly targeted by Choi. He said other bars have experienced similar issues that Choi has not addressed and that he believes those problems have been swept under the rug.

The biggest issue he says is not the bars or the business owners, but underage drinking and open containers. 

“I literally walk outside after we close and clean up, and probably 15 bottles of liquor, like fifth bottles, are just outside from people. We got the police sitting across the street. They’re not even getting open container tickets or anything,” Nelson said. “CPD just needs to enforce the rules. I hate to be like that but we have to at this point, because it’s affecting everybody. It’s not just affecting one group of people. This is how I feed my family.” 

No gunshots were heard in video of the July 26 incident that circulated on social media, and police have not said that gunshots were fired. Though felony charges were filed against a man accused of firing a gun on Aug. 9 at the same intersection.

“I implore you to take appropriate action to hold this establishment, and any other establishment contributing to these conditions, accountable. The recurring violence demonstrates that the owner is NOT taking adequate steps to maintain a safe environment,” Choi wrote in his Aug. 9 email.

Nelson says that Reign Bar takes steps to make sure it is a safe environment, which includes contracting security out of St. Louis. 

“I believe that young man is doing a great job. The first night that he was open, myself and a best friend of mine, we went in there, and we spent about an hour-and-a-half in his bar,” Stephens said. “He has security. He is placing bracelets on individuals that are underage. So he’s doing the work.”

The City of Columbia says it can only take action against a liquor license holder after an alleged violation, proper notice, and a hearing to determine whether the license holder failed to meet the requirements or standards outlined in city ordinance.

The city also said it is working with downtown bars to ensure they operate in compliance with city ordinances and codes.

In a statement to ABC 17 News, city spokesman Christopher Ave said no violations have been alleged against any businesses in the area, including Reign Bar, in connection with Sunday morning’s incident.

Ave said the incident occurred outside the property of any bar and that nearby officers heard gunshots and arrested a suspect shortly afterward. He added the area has been the site of early morning gatherings before Reign Bar opened.

“The area of this incident and an earlier fistfight has been the site of early-morning gatherings since before the Reign Bar opened for business,” Ave wrote.

In August 2025, Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude had noted a “hot spot” for gun violence shifted from the 900 block of East Broadway in 2024 to the 800 block of Walnut Street in 2025, previous reporting shows. Multiple incidents were reported in the 700 and 800 blocks of East Walnut that spring and summer.

Stephens spoke of enforcing loitering in the area.

“In all of those incidents and locations, they should be focusing on the loitering. If you’re going to talk about individuals hanging out, fighting, whatever the case may be, let’s talk about it. But let’s not target,” Stephens said.  “It’s happening on the sidewalks. And what happens in the streets and the sidewalks belong to the city of Columbia.” 

Choi also accused Johnson of giving “violent perpetrators a slap on the wrist” while including five links to local media reporting on sentences for various crime stories.

ABC 17 News has filed a request for additional emails following the July 26 downtown incident.

Check back for updates.