Shovel assault

AUBURN - Kenneth Rutherford, 25, of Council Bluffs was sentenced in Nemaha County to 18 months of probation for two counts of misdemeanor assault in April of 2022.

A sheriff’s office affidavit says a deputy was dispatched to the Nemaha County Hospital where a man was being treated after being hit in the back of the head with a  shovel. Witnesses at the hospital told the deputy they were at a Neal Street residence in Peru when the injury took place.

Deputies investigated and were told that four men and a woman arrived at the party, but were told they could not stay. Around 3 a.m. the group returned and two men were struck with a shovel. One of the men took the shovel from the assailant and the group returned to their Cadillac Escalade and left.

Prosecutors say Rutherford was wielding the shovel that injured the men.

Insurance fraud

Brenda Lechtenberg, 52, of Auburn was fined $1,000 for misdemeanor insurance fraud in July.

A Nebraska Department of Insurance investigator told the court that a claim for front end damage to Lechtenberg’s Chevrolet Equinox had been denied in May because her policy did not have collision coverage. Investigators say Lechtenberg added collision coverage in June and then made up a story about collision with a deer in July. The investigator says photographs presented with the denied claim  in May and photographs taken in July, after the alleged collision with the deer, showed the same damage.

Impound lot burglary

Steven Smith, 56, was sentenced to five to 12 years in prison for burglary and possession of burglar tools and methamphetamine in October. A habitual criminal enhancement was dropped.

A Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office affidavit says sensors at the county impound lot had were triggered and deputies arrived to find Smith inside the fence. A Jeep that had been reported stolen out of Omaha was found nearby. Deputies say methamphetamine was found inside.

Smith told investigators he was  homeless and went inside the fence to find cover from the weather.