National Round Up

Oregon: Man sentenced for running down 2 women
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland, Ore., man has been sentence to nearly six years in prison for running down two pedestrians after a night of heavy drinking.

The Oregonian reports that 25-year-old Dallas Lazar Lawrence was sentenced Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. He pleaded guilty last month to driving under the influence of intoxicants and two counts of second-degree assault.

Investigators say Lawrence had a blood alcohol content about three times the legal limit when he struck the women who were walking on a sidewalk in southeast Portland on Feb. 20.

The 21-year-old women suffered broken bones and other injuries.

Pennsylvania: Police: Inmate wanted to kill wife’s beau
WARREN, Pa. (AP) — Police have charged a man with threatening to kill his estranged wife’s boyfriend while the suspect was still a county jail inmate in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Forty-two-year-old Shawn Little, of Pittsfield, remains in the Warren County Jail where Warren police say the threat was made in June. Police charged Little with terroristic threats last week, and he faces a preliminary hearing Aug. 18.

Police say Little approached another inmate and said he was thinking of killing his wife’s boyfriend but would rather just pay to have someone else do it.

Police say Little planned to cash in a retirement account so he could pay $10,000 for the contract killling.

The plan was never carried out.

Kansas: Attorney argues for lighter sentence for rapist
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — An attorney for a man convicted of raping an elderly woman in a Salina hospital says a likely sentence is too harsh.

Paul Henry Parker Jr. faces a prison term under state sentencing guidelines of 51 years and eight months. He was convicted in June in the Feb. 20 rape of a woman in her 90s at the Salina Regional Health Center.

Parker’s attorney, Mark Dinkel, has filed a motion in Saline County District Court calling the sentence “cruel and unusual.” He noted the sentence for premeditated murder is life with eligibility for parole after 25 years. And he says people convicted of treason, terrorism and felony murder are eligible for parole after 20 years.

The Salina Journal reports that Saline County District Court Judge Rene Young granted a request Monday to postpone Parker’s sentencing until Oct. 8.

California: Couple charged with felony for chaining teen
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Sacramento couple has been charged with felony child endangerment for imprisoning their 13-year-old son for days by locking him in chains, often tethered to a kitchen table.

Forty-one-year-old John Vang, the teen’s father, and 34-year-old Thong Vue, the boy’s stepmother, appeared for arraignment Monday in Sacramento Superior Court, but they didn’t enter a plea. They will return to court Aug. 18.

The couple is free on bail. They wouldn’t talk to reporters.

Investigators say the boy was wrapped in chains — with padlocks securing each ankle and a long chain connected to the padlocks — for days until he managed to escape July 30 and flag down passers-by for help.

Ohio: Exotic dancer jailed after car kills man
MONROE, Ohio (AP) — Police say an exotic dancer hired for a private show in a southwest Ohio home has been jailed after her car struck and dragged her client a mile before he died.

Thirty-five-year-old Kristina Hensley of Higginsport, Ohio, is charged with fleeing an accident scene.

Monroe police say they’re still investigating, but that Hensley drove a Ford Explorer that hit 31-year-old resident Jae Cho in the community north of Cincinnati early Saturday. He was pronounced dead at a gas station a mile away.

Police say a service called Naughty Bodies was hired for Cho’s home, but for some reason, Hensley apparently left quickly with Cho following her.

Connecticut: Police: landlord goes berserk at strip club
NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — Police in Connecticut say they arrested the landlord of a Norwalk strip club after he threatened a patron with a metal pipe and smashed out windows of the building.

Thirty-nine-year-old Christopher LaRose of Norwalk is charged with threatening, criminal mischief and breach of peace.

Police say LaRose became hostile early Sunday morning when management of the Office Cafe, which has a no-hat policy, asked him to remove his hat. Police say he was allowed into the club, but got angry with the bartender for being slow in serving him a beer.

Police say he threw a glass at the bartender, swung the pipe at a patron who tried to calm him down and smashed two windows.

LaRose posted $5,000 bail and is due in court next Monday. He didn’t immediately return a message Tuesday.

Iowa: Teen convicted of murder seeks new trial
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Charles City teenager convicted of killing his 3-year-old cousin wants a new trial.

Fifteen-year-old Edgar Concepcion Jr. was found guilty as an adult in June of first-degree murder, first-degree sexual abuse, second degree-sexual abuse and child endangerment resulting in bodily injury.

He was accused of sexually abusing and killing Krystel Banes at his family’s home in Charles City in 2009.

Concepcion’s attorney, Judy O’Donohoe, filed a motion last week asking for a new trial. A hearing is set for Aug. 23 in Floyd County District Court in Charles City.

Concepcion was to be sentenced on Aug. 23. That has been continued until a later date.

South Dakota: Doc says attempted murder suspect is insane
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A psychiatrist says a Rapid City woman accused of trying to kill her parents late last year is insane.

Prosecutor Lara Roetzel says Dr. Steven Manlove deemed Casey Eleeson incompetent to stand trial after having face-to-face meetings with her. The court still must declare Eleeson mentally incompetent.

The 22-year-old Eleeson has pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder. She is scheduled for trial in early November.

Prosecutors say Eleeson stabbed her father on Dec. 29, stole his gun and then drove to her mother’s house and shot her. Both 55-year-old Bruce Eleeson and 52-year-old Cindy Eleeson survived. Casey Eleeson was arrested at a remote cabin in Colorado in January.

The teen is now in the custody of his biological mother.