Dispatcher: 911...

Caller: I just heard a gunshot go off at my next-door neighbor's. I was over there earlier and somebody pulled out a gun... I just walked over when I heard the gunshot... [inaudible].
D: So somebody got shot in the leg?
C: He shot himself in the leg... I'm sorry, I'm going to have to have you hold on...
D: OK... [was anyone] drinking at all?
C: Yeah.
D: Drugs?
C: Drinking, that's all I know of.
D: How long ago did you hear the shot?
C: It was literally about five minutes ago...
D: Are they on drugs at all, or you don't know?
C: I don't know. You'd have to be to shoot yourself in the leg.
D: We have an officer on the way down there.
C: OK, thanks.

Officer's Report: Dispatched on a crime alert call that a person [in the 5400 block of NW 4th Ct.] had shot himself in the leg. Upon arrival the listed witnesses were found in the house, none which had any gunshot wounds. The house was searched. No gun(s), spent cartridges or blood was found. There was empty and partially full beer containers and liquor bottles strewn around the house. The witnesses said they were having a small party when someone they knew only as "Zack" accidentally shot himself in the thigh, with a small handgun he was carrying in his jean pocket. Zack then drove himself away in an older white Lincoln Continental. All witnesses claim not to know Zack's last name, only that they think he is from Altoona... Witnesses also say they did not see any blood, only that Zack was "going around telling everyone he had shot himself." The crime alert caller said Zack shot himself while on the rear deck of the house and it was bleeding heavily... The rear deck was searched and there was no blood stains nor any spent cartridges present. Altoona PD Sgt. Griggs was contacted for anyone he or his officers may know that matched the subject's description. A name was provided. The subject lives in Pleasant Hill. The Pleasant Hill PD was contacted for a welfare check and they made contact. The subject did not have any gunshot wounds, therefore eliminated. The hospitals were contacted, and as of the completion of this report, no gunshot victims had come into any of the hospitals.

Docket diving

If you plan to appeal your convictions for first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree theft on the grounds of "insufficient evidence," it's probably not a stellar idea to brag to your friends about the murder, leave fingerprints all over the stolen vehicle, smear your DNA on the dead guy's bloody sweatshirt or use his debit card in seven states. Anyone who's seen an episode of "CSI" can tell you that much.

Apparently, Trenton Howard needs to watch more TV.

On April 26, the Iowa Court of Appeals announced that it would not reverse any of the charges against Howard, who was sentenced concurrently to life behind bars for the murder charge, 25 years for the robbery charge and 10 for the theft charge.

Howard, along with friends Christopher Langley and Michael Cargill - all teenagers at the time - were convicted of murdering Mark Willis, 53, in order to steal his Jeep and bank cards for a joyride to Florida.

Langley had met Willis several years prior, when Willis had acted as a sort of mentor to the troubled youth, buying him books and food and helping him learn how to drive, according to media reports. Family members said this was typical of Willis, a kind and generous man who looked to others' needs before his own.

On the night of February 20, 2004, the three boys lured Willis to a rural gravel road west of Davenport, where Langley struck Willis with Willis' own Jeep. The three proceeded to kick, beat and stab Willis repeatedly. When he didn't die, they pushed him facedown into a creek, where his body was found six days later by law enforcement officials.

Later the same night, after picking up some other friends in the stolen vehicle, Howard "boasted" that "they had killed someone for the Jeep," according to court documents, and then he "disposed of a bag containing bloody clothing with his DNA and other clothing containing the victim's DNA."

The Court of Appeals ruled "Because we find no merit in any of Howard's appellate claims, we affirm his convictions..."

And as for his co-conspirators? Langley (who later made news when he was severely beaten by fellow inmates for his white-supremacist tattoos) did have one charge overturned in appeal - a kidnapping charge. The court ruled that there was no way to determine how Willis arrived at the fateful scene of the crime, and no evidence that the boys kidnapped him to get him there.

Sucks to be you

Name: Justin Mitchell Lee
Posed for this picture because: On April 19, officers arrived at Tri City Self Storage on N.W. 26th Street to a burglary in process. Business owners had reported seeing a suspicious male in dark clothing escape through a hole in the fence. A Des Moines Police K-9 picked up a scent, which eventually led to Justin Michell Lee, 26. Along the trail, officers found a bandanna, flashlight, a saw and a coat. Lee was arrested and transported to Broadlawns Medical Center for dog bites, then to the Polk County Jail, where he is being held for third degree burglary, trespass and criminal mischief.

Fashion victim

Isn't robbing someone for their Air Jordans, like, so "20/20" circa 1993? Not, apparently, for Dionddre Nicholas Isom. On April 26, police were summoned to the Kum & Go at 2211 University Ave., where a male victim reported seeing someone wearing his Sean John coat and Air Jordan shoes, which he'd reported stolen from his residence the day prior. When police arrived, they found Isom, 27, wearing said apparel. Isom claimed he'd bought the hot goods from the trunk of a car the night before. Police handcuffed Isom and charged him with fourth degree theft. He is currently being held in the Polk County Jail. The Jordans are being held as evidence.

On the clock

Des Moines Police - April 27

3:15 p.m.
Theft in the 1500 block of Country Club Road in Indianola. Victim told police that someone had kicked in the back door of his house and stolen his tools, which included a generator, two nail guns, a Sawsall and a screwgun.

3:15 p.m.
Theft in the 5000 block of Bel Aire Road. Police responded to a call from a victim who found the passenger-side window of his 1999 Grand Am smashed, the dashboard damaged and the stereo missing. The car had been parked in the driveway overnight.

5:30 p.m.
Theft in the 5000 block of Bel Aire Road. Victim reported that someone had broken into the passenger-side window of his 2000 Solara, which had been parked in his driveway overnight, and stolen his cell phone.

7:20 p.m.
Theft in the 1900 block of Southeast Bell Avenue. Police responded to a call about a burglarized vehicle. The victim stated that when he discovered another vehicle in the same parking lot had been burglarized, he checked his own, and discovered the stereo missing from the dash.

8 p.m.
Theft in the 1200 block of Southwest Broad Street. Officers were dispatched to Airlines Bowling at 4200 Fleur Dr. to find a smashed car window. According to the police report, two 12-inch Kenwood subs, one Alpine amp, one Pioneer CD player face were among the missing items.

(Alleged) drunk drivers

Name: Jeffrey Scott Glass
Arrested: April 29
Third or subsequent offense

Name: Summer Dawn Meier
Arrested: April 27
Third or subsequent offense

Name: Eric Eugene Fritz
Arrested: April 27
Second offense

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