At 12:30 p.m. on Friday, May 19, police received a report of fraud at the Ace Hardware store and went to check it out.
North Platte Police Spokesman Rory Little said when they arrived, employees handed over three checks of differing amounts that a customer used to buy multiple battery-operated power tools.
Little said the police recognized the name on the checks and knew that person no longer lives in Nebraska.
Little said surveillance video identified Timothy Dike, 27, writing the checks. Police contacted Dike later and took him into custody without trouble.
Dike is also charged with domestic assault, unauthorized uses of a vehicle, driving under suspension as well as a prior domestic assault charge.
He was already scheduled to appear in Lincoln County court on June 1 to plea to an alleged theft of money from a North Platte woman in December. He had failed to appear in court in February, according to court records.
Dike is held on a $50,000 bond.
Huntsman
At 3:18 p.m. on Thursday, May 18, police checked out a reported disturbance in the 300 block of W. Eugene, near Hobby Lobby.
A woman who was involved in the disturbance had left, but police found the suspect, Stephanie Huntsman, 28, a few blocks away. According to the arrest affidavit, Huntsman was near the Law Enforcement Memorial, throwing items under a tree.
Huntsman was wanted on a May 3 charge of recklessly damaging the property of another person.
A search of her bag turned up a small cylinder that contained a white crystal that was identified as methamphetamine.
Huntsman was taken into custody without any trouble, Little said. As police took her to jail, she voluntarily told them about the meth in the cylinder, according to the arrest affidavit. She is charged with meth possession plus the previous charges, which are listed on sheriff’s records as two counts of attempted felony. Her bond was set at $25,000.
Smith
At 4:39 a.m. on Thursday, May 18, police went to the 100 block of S. Jeffers to check out a reported assault.
According to the police, an alleged victim told the officers that Dustin Smith, 43, walked into “their bedroom while they were sleeping and started to slap them,” police said. (Police sometimes use a plural pronoun in reports to the news media to help protect the identity of a victim or a witness.)
Smith allegedly grabbed the victim by the neck and applied a choke hold.
He would not allow the victim to leave and said he was going to lock up the victim.
Smith was charged with domestic assault, false imprisonment and strangulation and taken to the Lincoln County jail. Bond was set at $25,000.
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A few more of North Platte’s who’s who of habitual criminals.
Both the Dikes who are constantly in the Hot Sheets need the needle. They are a waste of perfectly good air.
“They” is plural, meaning more than one. “Victim” is singular, meaning one. So, which is it? Did Smith choke one person or two? This is really bad journalism.
Fred, it’s bad writing — but not so much bad journalism. Those are the words the police use out of a desire to protect the identity of the witness. The witness requests it out of fear of recrimination. I’ve clarified it in the article too. Thanks for bringing it up.
Since when do people still write checks?
Lots of people write checks.