Officer Christopher Hughes, (Kearney Police Department, Courtesy)
KEARNEY — A certificate of commendation was presented to Kearney Police Department Officer Christopher Hughes for his work that led to the arrest of suspects who had abducted a young child from the Grand Island area.
Chief Bryan Waugh said Hughes is an eight-year veteran with KPD and has a total of 15 years experience with law enforcement.
On Jan. 29, 2023, Tate Wolfe, 18, of Kearney and Jozef McAllister, 17, of Hastings, had stolen a vehicle from the 1400 block of N. Wheeler Avenue. There were three children inside the vehicle at the time of the theft, a five-year-old, a one-year-old and a seven-month-old.
Surrounding agencies were notified of the vehicle theft and kidnapping. It should be noted that the temperature outside was around zero degrees with a wind chill of -20 degrees.
The vehicle was spotted westbound on Highway 30 in Gibbon and a pursuit ensued. The vehicle was eventually found eight miles northeast of Kearney, but the suspects had fled and there were no children in the vehicle.
Hughes, the officer in charge during that evening, had gained permission to leave the city limits due to the nature of the situation.
Thermal imaging from a drone was used to identify the suspects several hundred yards away from the vehicle.
The two older children had been located in a stolen pickup outside of Kearney, the suspects had transferred the two oldest children into the vehicle and then abandoned it.
However, the seven-month-old was still missing and Hughes quickly built a rapport with one of the suspects, who revealed enough information about where the baby was.
The suspects had left the baby in a car seat on the porch of a farm of Chuck Sorahan in rural Hall County, who had received and Integrated Public Alert and Warning System alert on his phone and found the child and brought them inside.
Waugh said Hughes actions helped to save the life of the seven-month-old and the suspects have both been sentenced to over 60 years in prison on multiple felony counts.
Moving on to their meeting, the council approved 11 items on the consent agenda, some of which included:
The purchase of a 2024 F-350 pickup for the City Utilities Department for $110,595 from Sid Dillon Chevrolet.
They rejected the bids for the purchase of one new Av gas refueler truck to be used at the Kearney Regional Airport as the bids came in too high.
Hot Meals USA is looking to build a facility east of Kearney along 56th St for a warehouse to serve its operations and Kearney food banks and the council granted them an option to purchase 4.74 acres in the area of south 56th St.
The council also purchased scoreboards for the new Sportsplex in the amount of $161,495 from Crouch Recreation. It includes 19 scoreboards, 16 shot clocks and other related technology.
During the report section, interim City Manager Brenda Jensen shared photos of steel that was being erected at the Sportsplex property. She said crews would be working seven days a week to complete the steel work.
