Springfield Police Department

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Springfield Police Department said Tuesday afternoon that it's helping the Greene County Sheriff's Department investigate the theft of police equipment, including an AR-15 rifle and a Remington 870 shotgun, possible similar to those in the photographs.  Someone stole the equipment from a Springfield police officer's private vehicle.  The officer thinks the theft was last Saturday or Sunday near the southwest part of the...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Richard Walker, 56, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning for the stabbing death of Angela Baskin in Springfield on July 29, 1982.  Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Walker likely will get a 20-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. Walker pleaded guilty before Greene County Circuuit Judge Dan Conklin.  Prosecutors say Walker stabbed Baskin outside the Villa Inn Motel on North Glenstone Avenue.  The case remained an open investigation at the Springfield Police Department for 28 years until last fall.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A robber stole money from a Bank of America branch on Thursday morning.  The bank is at 2633 College Street. The man approached a teller and demanded money around 11 a.m.  The teller gave the man some money and he fled east from the bank on foot. Anyone with information about the robbery can call the Springfield Police Department at (417) 864-1810 or the FBI at (417) 882-3303 or (816) 512-8200.  The man is described as white, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-9, 170 to 180 pounds, medium build, in his mid- to late 50s, with a mustache and a three- to four-day-old beard with blond/gray hair.  He was wearing a dark blue zip-up sweatshirt with a hood, a gray T-shirt, blue jeans and an orange baseball-style cap.  

SPRINGFIELD -- In an effort to curb dangerous driving, the Springfield Police Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol teamed up on Friday to conduct another "Operation Safe Ride. " Law enforcers targeted traffic violators who pose a threat to motorcyclists. Officers concentrated on hazardous moving violations such as speeding, running red lights, and driving carelessly. Out of the 55 vehicles stopped, 41 citations and 34 warnings were issued. In addition to drivers receiving moving violation tickets, two people were arrested on outstanding misdemeanor warrants, one person was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant, and three people were cited for having open containers of alcohol in a moving vehicle.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- There is a possible break in the case of the three women who disappeared from Springfield 20 years ago.     A man in prison in another state, who is being interviewed in another cold case, gave a McDonald County detective what she believes is "good information" in the case.  Detective Lorie Howard says she is waiting for Springfield police investigators to call her back to investigate the possible suspect. Besides the cold case in McDonald County, this convict also is being investigated for a cold case in Indiana.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- On Monday, investigators with the U.S. Marshals-Southern Missouri Fugitive Task Force located and arrested fugitive Garrett Cleaver.  Cleaver, 26, is charged in Allen County, Kan., with two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.  These charges stemmed from an incident last month in which Cleaver threatened a...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Crime Stoppers and the Springfield Police Department asked for help on Wednesday identifying people who robbed a woman on Dec. 2. It occurred a few minutes after 6 p.m. on the parking lot of Battlefield Mall near the Macy's entrance. It turns out, however, that this is just one of 13 similar attacks in Springfield since Thanksgiving. "We are looking at this as an isolated incident right now," said Officer Dave Snider, a Springfield Police Department spokesman.  "We still have all the suspects out there.  We haven't ID'd anyone.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- This June will mark 20 years since the disappearance of three women from Springfield. Now, for the first time, a team of *national investigators is trying to unravel the mystery. The disappearance of Stacy McCall, Suzy Streeter and Sherill Levitt has grabbed national attention several times since they were last seen on June 7, 1992. It caught the eye of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, giving this local case to some of the brightest minds in the world of criminal investigations.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- City police assigned an investigator to a report that a woman may have been kidnapped and taken to Texas.  The report on Tuesday night was filed by Bryce Gilliland, who thinks his sister, Kendra Gilliland, may be held against her will. A friend of Kendra received a photo on her cell phone and a voicemail message that said she was being held for $5,000 ransom and “may possibly” be in Texas. Kendra Gilliland is 35 years old, and is described as about 5-foot-5 and very thin (maybe 100 - 110 pounds)

SPRINGFIELD --  A suspected drunk driver left his pickup in neutral when he bailed out of it to run from Springfield police; the truck smashed into a patrol car. That's according to the Springfield Police Department. It happened around 1:30 Sunday morning on the 1800 block of east Cinderella. Although the man jumped from his vehicle and took off after he was pulled over, police caught up with him about a block south of the stop and arrested him for DWI and resisting arrest.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The City of Springfield Public Works Streets Division will mobilize a full crew at 6 p.m. to prepare city streets for the predicted precipitation. The City works together with Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) on area roadways. Weather reports predict frozen precipitation starting this evening and pavement temperatures to drop below freezing between 10 p.m. and midnight.  After midnight, Public Works will likely bring in extra staff to monitor the streets and respond to slick calls, according to Ron Bailey, Streets Division interim superintendent.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- New Year's Eve patrols for drunken drivers led to 11 arrests by the Springfield Police Department. The drunken driving stops were a combined effort of regular police officers and specially-assigned DWI officers paid through grant funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield Police Department canceled its "Emergency Status" after a morning of winter weather. Police still ask drivers to be cautious, driving the appropriate speed for the current conditions. 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Crime Stoppers and the Springfield Police Department ask for help locating suspected burglars and any information related to the burglary, which was sometime Tuesday (Dec. 18).   Police didn't provide information, however, on where the burglary occurred.  During the burglary, police say, the thieves took several guns and a large quantity of ammunition. The first suspect is Qwenten Amlin, 19.  He was arrested early Friday after a 90-minute standoff with police at a house on Wabash Avenue near Mount Vernon Street.  Police chased him after a report of a theft at a nearby convenience store.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Missouri Highway Patrol is investigating a reported threat to kill Gov. Jay Nixon. A spokesman for the patrol says the threat came from a someone in Springfield.  Investigators say the Springfield Police Department passed on a report about the threat on Tuesday afternoon.  The Missouri Highway Patrol says it remains an ongoing investigation.  Governor Nixon was re-elected to a second-term in office in November.  The...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  -- It's a record that no city wants to set, but this year is a record one for Springfield for the most murders.  The homicide on Friday in the northeast part of the city was the city's 14th in 2012. A witness told police it started out as a drug deal when Marlo Hodges shot James Davis because they previously had an argument over a $20 debt.  Davis died; Hodges is still on the run. People who live around the intersection of Brower Street at Rogers Avenue said, at one time, they couldn't envision this kind of crime happening in their neighborhood.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson announces that on August 1, 2012, a jury convicted Jeremy E. Zapata, 36, of Springfield, Missouri, of four counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree involving a child less than 12 years old. These charges stemmed from events occuring between May 14, 2008, and January 24, 2010, at 2301 N. National, Springfield, Missouri. The defendant, who was the boyfriend of the victim's mother, began to sodomize the child at five years of age. The jury trial was presided over by The Honorable Thomas E. Mountjoy.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A retired Springfield police officer received a prison sentence of nearly 20 years on Thursday for sexually exploiting a minor by secretly videotaping her in order to produce child pornography.  Jack Van Matre, 55, worked in the Springfield Police Department from 1986 until his retirement in 2006. Van Matre received a sentence of 19 years and seven months in federal prison without parole.   Last June 1, Van Matre pleaded guilty to secretly using a girl to produce child pornography on two separate occasions in his home between Aug. 1 and Oct. 7, 2011.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- There is a possible break in the case of the three women who disappeared from Springfield 20 years ago.     A man in prison in another state, who is being interviewed in another cold case, gave a McDonald County detective what she believes is "good information" in the case.  Detective Lorie Howard says she is waiting for Springfield police investigators to call her back to investigate the possible suspect. Besides the cold case in McDonald County, this convict also is being investigated for a cold case in Indiana.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Police identified the bicyclist who was killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer just after 10:10 Tuesday evening.  Police say Eric Floyd, 32, of Springfield, died when he was struck by a tractor-trailer that proceeded on a green light at the intersection of Cherry Street at Glenstone Avenue. Police say the truck stopped in the northbound lane of Glenstone to wait for the traffic light to turn green. The driver then moved forward through the intersection on a green light and did not see the bicycle coming from the west.