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PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS
Shakopee man killed in motorcycle crash A Shakopee man was killed Friday in Burnsville when he was thrown from his motorcycle after rear-ending a car and was then struck by a semi truck on Highway 13 at Diffley Road, according to the State Patrol. Robert L. Edberg, 46, was traveling southbound on Highway 13 when his motorcycle struck the rear of a 2010 Honda Pilot driven by Marcie J. Wood, 48, of Savage. Edberg was thrown from the motorcycle and landed between the two lanes and was struck by the semi driven by Benjamin J. Leuthner, 36, of Mayer. Wood and Leuthner were not injured, said the State Patrol. The accident occurred at 2:27 p.m.
Mom accused of leaving infant in tub A 20-year-old Shakopee woman has been charged with one felony count of child neglect for allegedly leaving her 10-monthold son in the bathtub unattended. Liliya Nikolayevna Korzh called 911 on July 17 to report that her infant was barely breathing. She told officers she was upstairs giving her baby a bath when she left the room briefly to make a phone call to her mother, according to the criminal complaint. Her mother didn’t answer, she said, so she returned to the bathroom and found her son facedown in the bathtub with bubbles coming out of his mouth. She said she picked the baby up and tapped him on the back, bouncing him up and down. She said she heard him start to breathe as she bounced him on her shoulder and then called 911. The baby was breathing but weakly when police arrived. Visibly upset and crying, Korzh allegedly told officers she was a bad mother for letting this happen. Korzh accompanied her son to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, where he received oxygen and a chest X-ray. Her older child was with her parents for the weekend. Korzh’s story changed a bit when a Shakopee police detective met with her at the hospital. She told him she was texting her foster mother prior to putting the baby in the bathtub. After filling the tub up halfway, she said she put her son in and walked into the powder room, directly next to the tub area. She said her mother had called and since she missed the call, she went into the bedroom to call her back. At that point, she said she heard a gurgling sound and went into the bathroom, where she found her son face fi rst in the water, unconscious. His body was limp, so she began patting his back, called 911, and then water came out of his mouth, she said. The baby had moisture in his lungs and was kept in the hospital overnight for observation. Shannon Fiecke
September 15, 2011 | Page 5
Two accused of international drug smuggling Savage men charged locally A Savage man is accused of orchestrating the trafficking of a popular African and Middle Eastern drug from London to the United States with the help of another local man. Savage residents Nur Ali A h med a nd Jason Bu r ton Moss, both 40, have each been charged with a fourth-degree felony count of conspiring to sell khat, a stimulant that is banned in Canada, America and most of Europe, but legal in Great Britain. According to criminal complaints fi led in Scott County District Court, Ahmed was a security guard at Somali Mall in Minneapolis when he asked Moss (who also worked at the mall) to help recruit people to
fly hundreds of pounds of khat into the country. Mark Williams, commander of the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force, said he can’t comment on the specifics of the case because it’s still an active investigation. However, he said he can only recall one other khat case in the last five years. “We don’t see a lot of khat,” he said. Police began investigating when some of the people allegedly hired by Moss were arrested as they flew from London to New York and Chicago. Detectives have tied Moss to three international trips taken by seven people. According to court documents: On March 4, two individuals and Moss fl ew from London to New York. They were headed to Chicago, but customs agents found 20 ki-
lograms of fresh khat in a woman’s suitcase. The woman later told detectives she shared an office with Moss at Somali Mall. Moss made it through customs with around 70 pounds of fresh khat, which he allegedly turned over to Ahmed. On April 4, two people flew from London to Chicago on their way to Minneapolis. Custom agents inspected one of their suitcases and found 51 kilograms of fresh khat. That man was arrested and told police he was recruited by Moss. He said Moss gave him $ 500, purchased the airline tickets and paid for his hotel in London. On April 18, two women flew from London to Chicago on route to Minneapolis. Custom agents found 40 kilograms of fresh khat in each of their suitcases and they were charged with drug crimes in Illinois.
One of the women told police she rented an apartment from Moss and he paid her $1,500 to pick up suitcases containing plant material in London and bring it back to Minneapolis in March. She said she successfully made that trip. This time, she said, the women were each paid $400 and provided airline tickets. On May 4, police searched Moss’s residence on the 1300 block of Glenhurst Avenue in Savage. He admitted planning the trips from his home office in Savage. Moss later disclosed that Ahmed asked him to recruit people to transport khat from London in March. He said Ahmed provided money to support the fi rst trip and received the khat in New York. Another man supported the smuggling trips in April, he said. Shannon Fiecke
1st Annual
Police: Father took kids to Kenya It’s been more than two weeks since a Shakopee man disappeared with his two kids and resurfaced in Kenya. Police believe 33-year-old Shem Ongeri Nyabicha fled to Kenya after taking off with his 2- and 4-year-old sons, of whom he did not have custody. Nyabicha’s girlfriend of five years called police on Aug. 30 to report the children missing. According to court documents, Nyabicha took the kids on Aug. 27 following an argument at their home on Arabian Avenue. He sent his girlfriend a text message saying he and the kids were staying at an undisclosed location for the evening. Although Nyabicha had threatened in the past to take the kids to his native Kenya, the woman told police she didn’t think he would since the children had no passports. Two days later, when Nyabicha still hadn’t returned, the woman became nervous and looked for the children’s birth certificates. They were missing. That same day, Nyabicha called from his father’s home in Kenya. A day later, he allegedly called again and said he had already hurt their youngest son and was going to “fi nish him off.” The woman received another call on Aug. 31, in which Nyabicha told her he planned to return to the United States with the children for their fi rst day of school (Sept. 7). Nyabicha has not returned with the children, as of the fi ling of criminal charges on Sept. 7, and has been charged in Scott County District Court with felony counts of kidnapping and deprivation of parental rights. According the criminal complaint, the woman requested police assistance at her home when Nyabicha physically assaulted her in 2010. During that case, she said his friends told her if she called the police again, she would never see her children again. She told police that Nyabicha threatened in the past to take the kids to Kenya for his Kenyan wife to raise if she turned him in for sexual assaults. When she told him she would go to Kenya and get her children, he allegedly responded that he could have her killed for $20. The woman has sole custody of the children, although Nyabicha is listed on their birth certificates. Shannon Fiecke
Driver hurt when his car hits gravel truck A Shakopee man was seriously injured when a semitrailer truck that appeared to be carrying sand or gravel turned into the path of his car on Eagle Creek Blvd. Tuesday night Dougal Huntington, 69, who was headed eastbound in a Dodge car, suffered severe head lacerations, said Shakopee police Capt. Chris Dellwo. His front end slid under the trailer. Huntington was transported from the scene by ambulance. His injuries are considered to be non-life-threatening. The crash occurred at 8:38 p.m. near Alysheba Road. The driver of the truck was 61-year-old Glenn Struck. He was exiting his residence on the 2200 block and was attempting to turn left onto westbound Eagle Creek Boulevard. Police cited Struck for failure to yield the right-of-way. Shannon Fiecke
School Board candidate Gustafson opts not to run Andrea Bauer Gustafson, one of five candidates running for Shakopee School Board, will not be campaigning for a seat on the board come November. B auer Gu st a fson said Wednesday new work duties will result in more travel, which would make it difficult to serve on the board. She didn’t want to withdraw but thought it was the right thing to do. “I didn’t think it was fair to keep running for the position when I’ll be traveling a lot
more,” Bauer Gustafson said, “which I wouldn’t be able to do a good job of serving the students of Shakopee or Shakopee itself.” Bauer Gustafson’s decision came after the official withdrawal window so her name will still appear on the ballot. Four candidates are vying for three open seats on the School Board. The candidates are Reggie Bowerman, Jeremy Casper, Matt McKeand and Angela Tucker.
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