Compiled by Bethany Kohoutek bethany@dmcityview.com

Dispatcher: 911...
Caller: This is a non-emergency. It's a car break-in.
D: Where at?
C: I'm at Saylorville.
D: Where at?
C: Um, I'm not sure what this - it's by the dam. Let me see if I can get a location.
D: O.K. I think I might be able to get it from your phone. Hold on a second, here.
C: This is Lake View.
D: O.K. You're close to the lake?
C: Yeah, we're on the lake, right by the dam.
D: And someone has broken into your car? ... What kind of car?
C: A Lincoln Navigator.
D: What color?
C: Gray.
D: OK., and has anything been taken?
C: Yeah, my purse. ... My husband just went and got the boat. I'm in the parking lot right now.
D: OK. We'll have them head that way for you.
C: OK. Thank you.

Officer's Report: I was dispatched to Saylorville's Lake View Highland boat ramp, reference a car that had been broken into. When I arrived, I met with [the victim] who said his gray Lincoln Navigator with Minnesota [license plates] was broken into between 15:30 hours and 17:30 hours. [The victim] and his family parked the vehicle and went boating at 15:30 hours. Before they left the vehicle, [the victim] and his family put jewelry and watches into [the victim's] wife's purse. The purse was found outside the vehicle, but the jewelry was missing. The vehicle had the passenger's rear window shattered when I arrived. The following items were reported missing from the vehicle by [the victim]: solid gold Rolex watch (valued at $15,000); gold and silver Rolex watch (valued at $7,000); diamond bracelet (valued at $400); gold necklace (valued at $1,000); $200 in cash. No suspects were reported.

Docket diving

It wasn't a pretty parting for Drs. Patrick Sterrett and David Field. By the time the physicians' feud was over, a nurse and her family had been caught up in the fray.

Sterrett and Field practiced medicine together at the Westside Clinic in Des Moines, where they co-owned both the business and the building. In 1999, Sterrett decided he wanted to leave Westside and set up his own clinic in the same building. According to court documents, the departure was "not friendly" - and it was about to get worse.

Sterrett, a neurologist, convinced his wife and a nurse, Mary Hoffman, to help him photocopy "a large number" of his patients' records, in preparation for the move. On Aug. 15, 1999 - a Sunday - Hoffman and her children, who were 11 and 13 years old at the time, showed up to help with the copying. Court records indicate that Sterrett paid the children to press the "start" button on the copier and feed paper into it.

Midway through the process, however, Dr. Field showed up at the clinic and told everyone to leave. They heeded his order, and did not remove any files from the building

Shortly afterward, another Westside Clinic employee, administrator Margy Schulte, filed a complaint with the Iowa Board of Nursing against Hoffman for allowing her children to assist in the copying of patient records. The board found that Hoffman violated Iowa Administrative Code by breaching the "confidentiality and privacy rights" of Westside's patients and proceeded to take disciplinary action against her.

When Hoffman appealed the decision, a Polk County district court sided with the nursing board. However, the Iowa Court of Appeals, which recently reviewed the case, reversed the ruling and ordered the nursing board to dismiss the charges and the disciplinary action. Furthermore, the appellate court judges said that accusing Hoffman of an ethical breach, simply for allowing her children to make copies, was "unreasonable" and "arbitrary."

"There is no finding... that the children read any of the information contained within the medical records, or even the names on the files," the judges wrote. "They simply pressed the 'start' button on the copy machine and were supervised throughout the process."

6,200 number of Iowa responders trained in "homeland security and emergency management issues" in 2005

Sucks to be you

Name: Tony Carl Toomey

Location: Des Moines

Sucks to be Toomey because: Tony Toomey didn't hesitate when a Dahl's employee told him to stop and to remove from his coat the bottle of liquor he had allegedly shoplifted. He managed to pull away when the employee chased and grabbed him. The Dahl's worker finally tackled Toomey and held him until police arrived and arrested Toomey. He was taken to Polk County Jail.

School's in

Police were called to a Des Moines junior high school, where a campus monitor suspected that a juvenile female may have cut other students with a knife. When officers arrived, the campus monitor checked the girl's purse and found a utility blade. The girl became "agitated" and "very disrespectful," police reports indicate, and she tried to exit the room. The officer grabbed the girl and managed to handcuff her, but she continued to yell and struggle, so she was taken outside. On the way to the patrol car, she attempted to spit on an officer. She was transported to the juvenile detention center.

On the clock

Des Moines Police - Sept. 17

3:16 p.m.

Robbery in the 5100 block of S.W. Park Avenue. Victims reported they were walking eastbound on Park Avenue when a late '90s model Chevy Blazer began to honk at them. The Blazer pulled into a business driveway and one occupant exited the vehicle, took off his shirt and began walking toward the victims, repeatedly saying, "You talk shit," according to police reports. The victims told the suspect they did not know what he was talking about. Two more male suspects then exited the vehicle. The suspects proceeded to steal a watch and a baseball cap from the victims before getting back into the Blazer, which was driven by a female in her teens. The victims were able to get the license plate number, and when police ran the plate, they found that two missing persons are associated with the vehicle.

5:03 p.m.

Assault in the 2100 block of S.E. Hughes Avenue. The victim's parents stated that their son was involved in a playground fight. The fight started over bikes and led to pushing. The suspect allegedly punched the victim, causing a bloody nose and a black eye. The parents told police they understand the incident was a playground fight, but said the suspect "causes problems" in the neighborhood. The parents did not want charges filed, but did want the incident documented.

9:40 p.m.

Arson and assault in the 2000 block of Hartford Avenue. Two victims stated they were camping by the river when about five young males approached them. They began talking and drinking, and the two groups got along well at first. Then one boy became "agitated" and demanded more alcohol and money. The suspect pulled a burning stick from of the campfire and struck one of the victims in the arm. They began wrestling, then the suspects left. Shortly after, the victims heard noises near their car. They found the vehicle burning. The fire department extinguished the flames.

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