Category: kmiz-local-news

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department is ramping up enforcement of misdemeanor offenses downtown in an effort to reduce violent incidents.

The department is using crime data to identify specific locations, days and times for targeted enforcement.

The new targeted approach is designed to interrupt patterns of behavior that often escalate into more serious incidents, including open container violations, littering, trespassing, minors in possession of alcohol, peace disturbances, parking violations and pedestrian traffic violations. 

“What you permit is what you promote, and so we need to start getting on the front end of curtailing things before they get out of hand,” Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News. 

The strategy drew attention during Monday’s City Council meeting, when Ward 1 Councilwoman Valerie Carroll said several constituents raised concerns about receiving jaywalking tickets and arrests made during the Black White Ball reunion on Saturday night, an event that drew hundreds of alumni from Columbia’s high schools.

“I want to say that the event is very dear to the identity and culture of the First Ward and many residents who live there,” Carroll said during the meeting. “I also want to say that I understand the reports that I’ve heard from police and the need for proactive policing.” 

Schlude told ABC 17 News the arrests and police presence did not have anything to do with the Black and White Ball, adding the citations occurred after officers told people multiple times to get off the street before a supervisor showed up and determined the warnings were being ignored. A total of eight citations were issued for pedestrian traffic violations. 

“Frankly, a lot of our folks don’t even know that the Black and White Ball is occurring because the only event we really participate in is the parade. We do event security and traffic control for the parade and so there’s no events associated with that — that I’m aware of — that are scheduled to be downtown. Certainly not at 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning,” Schlude said. “There was nothing about this, proactive enforcement or presence that had anything to do with the Black and White Ball.” 

On June 8, shots rang out downtown near Walnut Street, resulting in an innocent bystander sufferning nonlife-threatening injuries. That same weekend, John Rogers, one of the owners of the Athens Building located on the 800 block of East Walnut Street, where his law office is located, found a rock through his glass door. 

“It was just the crowds, and when a certain amount of people got there. It got to be a problem that we had two incidents that were a little bit more serious,” Rogers said. “One night, there was a shooting, or at least shots fired. And another night, we had a rock thrown through one of our front windows.” 

Rogers said the incident highlighted an increase in criminal activity in the area, which has made some residents feel unsafe. In response, he wrote a letter to Schlude and several other city leaders, asking for increased patrols, enforcing existing ordinances and making arrests when appropriate. 

“What I  hear more about and notice more, is people either complaining or just saying they don’t go downtown in downtown Columbia in general,” Rogers said. “If we want people to work down here, live down here, and visit down here, it needs to be safe.” 

In the letter, Rogers claimed the June 8 weekend was not an isolated incident.

In the past 18 months, CPD says it has seen a sustained and escalating gun violence downtown, which has included three uninvolved bystanders being shot and numerous others put at risk. 

These incidents include: 

Schulde said the department’s shift to a more-active enforcement approach was accelerated by the June 8 shooting, but it wasn’t possible until staffing levels improved. Since June 8, the department has increased its downtown police presence between 10 p.m.-4 a.m., particularly on weekends.

“Six months ago, we maybe had 10-to-12 officers on a shift at night.  This past weekend, we had 15 officers plus supervisors on, and we’ve also been able to expand our street crimes unit so now they work in two shifts.” Schulde said. “Staffing has really been a blessing to help us be able to do more of these activities.” 

The department now has eight officers assigned to a “swing shift” from 3 p.m.-3 a.m., which overlaps with another group of officers working from 6 p.m.-6 a.m. 

According to Schlude, the hotspot for gun violence has shifted from the 900 block of East Broadway in 2024 to the 800 block of Walnut Street in 2025.

Eight of 11 shots fired and shooting reports in the past 18 months have occurred after bars closed at 1:30 a.m. Several of those incident were allegedly followed by large fights in the street. CPD also claims that officer presence alone has not been enough to deter the violence. In three of those incidents, officers were present and in one instance, an officer was shot at by one of the suspects when he tried to intervene. 

“Looking at the data, we’re finding that a lot of these more violent incidents are No. 1 happening after bars closed and they’re happening late at night. So early in the morning technically, but after that 1:30 hour,” Schlude said. 

“We’ve received a lot of feedback and concern from downtown business owners, parents whose students are going here to school, and so there’s definitely been reasonable questions about what we’re doing to make sure people are safe downtown.  This is just part of that effort. And if you look back historically,  when the downtown unit was in existence, this was a large part of what kind of their purpose and charge was, so we’re really just trying to get back to that more data-driven, place-based policing approach.” 

Schulde hopes the increased police presence downtown will strengthen relationships with local bars and help reduce the number of incidents. With college students returning to Columbia soon, the department also plans to offer training for bars that see a high volume of incidents. 

“School is starting back up in just a couple of weeks. This is just kind of a precursor to that because we’re going to have an exponential amount more people downtown,  we’re going to be encountering additional issues,” Schulde said. “There’s alcohol involved, so that’s not too surprising. But  people should just expect to see more officers downtown.”

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is looking to replace one of its busiest and oldest fire stations.

Columbia Fire Station 5 — located on Ballenger Lane — is nearing the end of its lifespan, according to Assistant Fire Chief Jeffrey Heidenreich, leading to the department to request a replacement.

“It’s becoming functionally obsolete when it comes to the fire service and the modern expectations and requirements on size, space and other necessities of stations,” Heidenreich said.

The city is now amending its fiscal year 2026 budget to include $6 million for a replacement, according to city spokeswoman Sydney Olsen. The funding will come from capital improvement sales tax investment income.

Ward 3 Councilwoman Jacque Sample told ABC 17 News she was told by a resident the building could have been built on an old coal mine. Sample said the city is now working to determine if that is the case.

“It’s really important for us to do a land survey to make sure that we don’t rebuild and have the same problems in the future,” Sample said. “I know the city is looking at digging into kind of some historical records to determine if that is the case and remap out where those potential old coal mines might be.”

Sample said it isn’t clear when the city will conduct the survey. The station was built in 1971 and is the third busiest station overall in the city. The only busier stations are located downtown and Fire Station 2 on Worley Street, according to Heidenreich.

However, the deteriorating and sinking conditions of the station is taking a toll on firefighters, who have to spend time documenting and repairing the station.

While the station is acceptable as far as current state and living conditions, Heidenreich said the department had to think about whether it makes sense to continue pouring money into the place.

“We’ve had to invest a considerable amount more in time and money addressing physical issues with the station,” Heidenreich said. “Multiple attempts at raising or stabilizing the foundation and concrete repairs that we haven’t had to do at other stations.”

ABC 17 News took a tour of the fire station, noticing several cracks in walls and floors, broken windows and brown spots in ceiling panels created from a build-up in humidity. Heidenreich said a moisture build-up in the attic drips into the ceiling tiles, creating the brown spots.

The tiles were replaced in December, and the department will have to replace them again soon to avoid running into issues with mold. Firefighters have also resorted to adding a fan hanging from the ceiling, as well as a dehumidifier to try and pull additional moisture from the attic to minimize damage to the ceiling.

The station had a major remodeling in 2019, but was stopped mid-progress due to station settling.

The station has continued to deal with those settling issues over the years, now leading to the recent sticking of a door within the station, as well as another door that wasn’t able to open or close until crews put in additional lag bolts.

Another issue the station is battling: The community bunk room. The room was a common practice in the fire service for a long period of time, but the trend has since moved to include individualized bunk rooms.

“As our workforce grows and the diversity of our workforce increases, we think it’s important to invest in individualized bunk rooms, or individualized rooms for our firefighters and our members for privacy and safety and sleeping concerns,” Heidenreich said.

Heidenreich said that was an issue for the fire department during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they weren’t able to separate firefighters from one another to prevent it from spreading.

The fire department also deals with discolored water coming from its sink and ice, as well as low water pressure that can become problematic when filling up their fire trucks.

The bay area has experienced problems of its own. Fire equipment has gotten substantially larger over time, including the firetrucks. Heidenreich said the trucks have become wider over the years, and the trucks have limited clearance up top and on the sides when parking in the bay.

Firefighters have made contact with the sides of the garage due to the issue, leading to visible damage to the garage.

“We’re talking about inches on each side of the truck every single time they go out,” Heidenreich said. “And since this is the busiest, single company house in the city, they’re running you know, sometimes 10, 15 calls a day coming in and out this bay.”

Firefighters also have to coordinate with one another when getting into the trucks, due to a lack of space in the bay when the door of the truck is opened. There is also severe settling and cracking on the bay floor, despite the concrete being replaced in 2023.

Heidenreich said other stations fire stations 4 and 6 are also on the decline, but station 5 has seen the worst of it. The department also wants to improve its reliability percentage, but is also running into problems with that.

“One of the next steps we take once a station and an engine become substantially busy to the point that the reliability slips under 90%… as an example, this station (fire station 5) is close to 80%. We look at the possibility of adding an additional staffed fire apparatus. And so for our deployment model that would be a ladder company, and a ladder company isn’t able to fit into stations 4, 5, and 6,” Heidenreich said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three people were indicted in separate federal cases in Mid-Missouri, according to a Wednesday press release from the Department of Justice.

The release says Joanna Fabian Rivera, 33, of Arizona, was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. She was allegedly found with packages of cocaine and heroin in her vehicle on May 3, the release says.

Alex Mills Zoll, 42, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was charged with three felonies and was accused of child enticement, attempted to produce child pornography and sending and selling obscene material across state lines, the release says. The case was investigated by the Boone and Callaway county sheriff’s offices.

Aaron James Kipper, 34, Columbia, was charged with illegally owning two guns. The release says he is a convicted felon and was found with two guns on June 27.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A patient had their leg impaled by a steel rod on Wednesday morning in a west Columbia neighborhood, according to a press release from the Columbia Fire Department.

The release says firefighters were called at 10:10 a.m. to the 300 block of Parkwood Court for a report of a fall injury. Identifying information about the patient was not given in the release.

“A patient had sustained a mechanical impalement to the leg by a piece of a reinforcing bar, a steel rod commonly used in concrete construction,” the release says.

A truck that was “equipped for technical rescue operations” was sent and crews removed  “a portion of the metal and railroad ties” to prevent more injuries occurring, the release says. The patient was brought to an area hospital with a portion of the bar still in their leg, the release says.

“This is exactly the type of call we envisioned when we made the strategic decision to distribute heavy rescue capabilities,” Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said in the release. “The quick, coordinated response and specialized tools on our ladder truck made a real difference in the outcome for this patient.”

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Club Car Wash, a Columbia-based company was given a “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau after the company received more than 240 complaints over that past 36 months, the BBB said in a press release Tuesday.

The BBB says the complaints stem from alleged vehicle damage, billing issues, and poor customer service. The company also received 73 customer reviews, the majority of those being negative, according to the BBB.

The “F” rating is the lowest on its scale, the BBB claimed in a release on its website it is due to a pattern of unresolved and unanswered complaints.

Customers claim Club Car Wash failed to pay for damage allegedly caused during automatic washes. Others claim they were unable to cancel the company’s $22-a-month subscription or get refunds.

Club Car Wash has said that many complaints involve preexisting vehicle damage, the release from the BB says.

In July in St. Charles County, Club Car Wash was ordered to pay $3,200 to a man whose 2019 Ford F-250 was damaged in April 2024, when a loose cord from another vehicle struck several parts of his truck, according to court documents. The damage included a broken windshield, and damage to the grille, headlight, hood and fender.

In Boone County in 2023, a woman filed a small claims lawsuit after alleging her 2013 Mazda’s rear top bumper was damaged after going through Club Car Wash automatic wash. Court documents say the woman filed a claim with employees. The petition says her claim was denied a month later because her vehicle was considered too old.

Court documents show Club Carwash settled with the vehicle’s owner, Uvirkaa Akumaga, for $1,163 on Jan. 9, 2024.

A Club Car Wash location in Columbia has a sign listing disclaimers and terms, which state the company is not responsible for damage to:

Vehicles seven ears or older;

Any Kia Trim;

Bug shields or rain guards of any kind;

Any style antenna;

Aftermarket wheels or extended valve stems;

Power running board in down position;

Windshields with prior chips or cracks in non-factory installed parts and accessories;

All externally attached items;

Preexisting paint imperfections;

Any prior vehicle damage; and

Accidents due to driver negligence.

The release from the BBB says it it received a complaint from a woman in Cape Girardeau who reported that a piece of her vehicle’s molding was torn off during a wash, with repairs estimated at $558. According to the BBB, Club Car Wash did not respond to the complaint.

Another case, in Arnold, Missouri, a woman claimed her son’s vehicle sustained damaged to a window, which caused $600 in damage. The BBB claims the company denied responsibility and did not respond to the complaint.

Former Club Car Wash customer Mindy Schmelz said the passenger-side door of her Grand Traverse SUV was scratched during a wash at a location in the St. Louis area. Schmelz, who says her vehicle had low mileage and no visible damage beforehand.

“I got out of the car, I just happened to look down for whatever reason and I noticed these like three patterns of scratches that were just like very uniform at the same level,” Schmelz said. “I knew the damage wasn’t there so we immediately went back up to the car wash and reported it,”

Schmelz says she reported the damage to an employee who then filed a claim. But a few days later, Schmelz says she was told the company would not take responsibility.

“We were told, ‘Oh sorry we can’t verify that we actually did the damage so we’re not going to cover it,'” she said.

Schmelz said she urged the company to review security footage from before the wash to confirm the scratches weren’t there.

“They’re like because of the glare and the metallic paint that you have, we couldn’t determine the damage wasn’t there prior,” Schmelz said. “We can’t determine that we actually did the damage, so we’re not going to cover it.”

After being denied payment for damage, Schmelz said felt she didn’t have much resource.

“We canceled our memberships,” Schmelz said. “I ended up just leaving a bad Google review for it because I’m like there’s no reason other people need to be subjected to having their new vehicles damaged or their vehicles in general damaged, people pay a lot of money for their cars and they want them to be kept nice,”

When Schmelz learned the BBB gave the company a “F” rating, she wasn’t surprised.

“I’m not surprised, to be honest with you because like, event two years ago when I wrote my Google review on it, and just even our local one on their Facebook reviews, which they’ve since taken away the ability to, There was so many people that were like my car has been damaged,” Schmelz said.

“You know their response was, we didn’t do it, I’m sorry you’re not happy with the response but we can’t verify that we did the damage or anything like that so I wasn’t surprised that they got that review,” she said.

Schmelz said she has not repaired her vehicle.

A Club Car Wash executive previously responded when BBB brought complaint pattern concerns to its attention, stating: “We have video and photo proof that these cars come in with the damage, but they feel the need to still make a complaint. The other thing is 228 complaints thankfully are minimal to the 50 million cars we have washed in that time frame so it’s obvious we don’t damage vehicles.” 

The BBB recommends several tips when using car wash services:

Research the business before paying at BBB.org

Review terms and disclaimers posted at the facility or on the company’s website

Understand subscription plans and how to cancel them. Monitor your billing statements

Pay by credit card when possible to retain the ability to dispute charges

File complaints with BBB and your state attorney general’s office if you feel wronged

Club Car Wash operates more than 200 locations across 11 states, with six locations in Columbia.

ABC 17 News reached out to Club Car Wash and the Better Business Bureau.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man is sitting in jail after authorities claim he assaulted a woman with a cane on Monday evening in Columbia.

Daren Hart, 57, of Columbia, was charged on Wednesday with second-degree assault and armed criminal action. Court filings show he is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says the victim in the case flagged down police around 7:30 p.m. Monday in the 1200 block of Lakeview Avenue. Police wrote the woman was bleeding from her head and had other injuries.

The woman allegedly told police that she and Hart were in an argument near a creek when he started punching her in her face, the statement says. He then allegedly picked up a cane and started hitting her, the statement says. The victim allegedly had issues talking because of her injuries, the statement says.

The victim pointed out Hart to police when he walked out of a wooded area while holding a cane, the statement says.  

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City voters will decide in November whether to extend the city’s 7% lodging sales tax for 25 more years.

The tax pays to promote tourism in Jefferson City and charges 7% on all hotel and motel rooms and short-term rentals. Most of the tax receipts — four-sevenths of the money — are devoted to developing a conference center, according to Jefferson City Council documents. The other part funds the operations of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The city council approved putting the tax on the November ballot with a unanimous vote at its Monday meeting.

The tax brought in about $1.5 million in the last fiscal year, according to city records.

The election will be held Nov. 4.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia doctor who is charged with rape has been found guilty of a pair of misdemeanors in a separate case.

A jury found Travis Birkhead guilty on Wednesday of two counts of violating a restraining order. He was found not guilty of first-degree harassment. He will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17. Birkhead is still charged in another case with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault.

Court documents say Birkhead violated the order of protection by driving by the victim’s residence on Sept. 9 and 15, 2022. He was not allowed to be within 500 feet of the home, the probable cause statement says of the order for protection. Birkhead allegedly denied being within 500 feet of the victim, but allegedly told officers he drove by the home to drop off someone, the statement says.

In his rape case, court documents in previous reporting claim Birkhead took a woman behind a bar on East Business Loop 70 on Oct. 22, 2022, and sexually assaulted her in the woods behind the bar.

Columbia police said surveillance video showed the woman having difficulty standing up while the two went out of view. Columbia police claim Birkhead texted another person that he had sex with the alleged victim behind the bar.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 25, and a jury trial is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man was charged with two felonies after he allegedly sexually abused a disabled woman at her home on Monday.

Demon Tyrone Johnson Sr., 40, was charged on Wednesday with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree burglary. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says police were called to a home on Tuesday for a reported sexual assault that occurred the day before. The victim claimed Johnson does landscaping work at her home because she cannot any more, the statement says. The victim was not satisfied with recent work and told Johnson’s boss, the statement says.

Johnson then allegedly showed up to the residence around 9 p.m. and confronted the victim before demanding to see her breasts, the statement says. He then allegedly groped her for several minutes while the victim tried to get away, court documents say.

Johnson allegedly admitted to sexually abusing the victim to police, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A registered sex offender in Fulton was charged with a felony on Wednesday after he allegedly was seen at being at a public park with a playground and splash pad.

Schylur Mahurin, 31, was charged with being a sex offender who was loitering within 500 feet of a park with a playground. He is being held at the Callaway County Jail on a $20,000 bond.

The probable cause statement says he was convicted of second-degree statutory rape in 2015 in Linn County.

The statement says the Callaway County Sheriff’s Office received multiple complaints about Mahurin being at a park over the weekend.

A probation officer who put Mahurin on GPS monitoring confirmed that he was at Memorial Park on Saturday between 3-7 p.m. Mahurin allegedly told law enforcement that he was walking at the park with a coworker, the statement says. A deputy told him he’s not allowed to be at a park and he allegedly replied that he knew that information, court documents say.

Mahurin pleaded guilty on June 26, 2023, to failure to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to five years of probation, along with a three-year suspended sentence.

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