JOHNSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue investigating a suspect for the alleged contamination of food at the Hereford House, 5001 Town Center Drive in Leawood, Kansas.

Jace Christian Hanson, 21, of Kansas City, has been charged with food adulteration, according to the Johnson County District Attorney’s office. 

 On Thursday, the restaurant issued a statement on the investigation.

“Everyone connected with the Hereford House restaurant in Leawood is disturbed, even angered, by the food tampering that occurred at that locaon in April.”

“Unil the release of the affidavit on Wednesday concerning defendant’s actons and statements, we were unable to publicly address the situaion as we were learning the details released by lawenforcement authorities at the same time as the news media and the public.”

“Now, with the release of this information, we can make a few comments. First and foremost, we have always placed a high priority on the integrity of the food we serve our customers. We learned of the tampering on April 25, when the Leawood PoliceDepartment arrived at the restaurant asking to speak to the defendant, who had only been an employee for a month.”

“They spoke with him, obtained the statements from him contained in the affidavit and took him into custody. We immediately destroyed all the food in the kitchen and did a thorough cleaning andsanitizing of the kitchen and surrounding areas.”

“We also immediately spoke with the health authorities from the State of Kansas responsible for restaurant inspections. We described the situation and the steps we had taken thus far. We asked if there were other steps we should take and they indicated we had taken all the appropriate steps. We continue to stay in touch with the state health authorities to keep them apprised of developments.”

“Based on the affidavit, we can now also narrow down the number of days the defendant was working during the time he was tampering with food.”

“According to the affidavit, the defendant says the tampering occurred between roughly April 6, and April 23. In that span, the defendant worked 12 days.”

“We want to thank the Leawood Police Department for their quick action on the April25, tip from the FBI that the potential for food tampering at the Leawood restaurant was occurring.”

“We will continue to work with law enforcement authorities and report any further information we learn to our customers.”

“Finally, we want to thank our loyal customer base. Please know that we are just as upset and disturbed by this situation as you are. And we will continue to work hard to earn your trust and business.”

On April 25, the Leawood Police Department received a tip that the restaurant may have someone intentionally contaminating food.

Police immediately began an investigation that led to the Hereford House, 5001 Town Center Drive in Leawood, where detectives spoke with restaurant management to identify a suspect 21-year-old Jace Christian Hanson of Kansas City. He remains jailed on a $100,000 bond, according to online jail records.

If you ate at the restaurant between March 26 and April 25, 2024, and later experienced health issues, please contact Leawood Police: [email protected] or 913-266-0696.

BUTLER COUNTY, Kan. (KWCH) – Following a FactFinder investigation we’ve carried out for months, a Kansas lawmaker hopes to make a difference for a Butler County family whose only water supply was left contaminated with seemingly no help to fix the problem.

“It is not their fault, they had no knowledge that the oil existed or would ever exist in their water system,” said Kansas Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta.

Williams shared the message after losing her battle to get funds to the family that continues to fight for clean water.

Williams heard the family’s pleas for help, but bringing in rural water wasn’t an option, at least not an immediate one. Williams helped to convince state budget negotiators to direct $500,000 from a state abandoned well remediation fund to compensate Jenna Krob’s family and others in Butler County impacted by the contamination. However, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the line item, saying it was outside the scope of the program.

Kelly said the use of the money was “squarely outside the statutory scope of the program” and that while the policy was well-intended, it needs to be carefully debated to avoid unintended financial or legal obligations for the state.

For Jenna Krob and her family, the problem came to light in September, with a small.

“Water-contaminated by oil. It almost burned your nostrils,” Krob said.

In October, the problem escalated with oil seeping up into the toilet. The oil then clogged the family’s water well pump, leaving them with nothing.

A neighboring property owner had the same issue. Testing showed that the oil was from historical drilling. So, according to the state, no company could be held responsible.

The only solution was rural water. But with a $3.5 million price tag, that was out of reach. Williams, who represents the impacted area southwest of Augusta, had another idea.

“Originally, I added a proviso into our budget bill that would allow for abandoned well money that’s used for mitigation or capping of wells to be used for demolition of these two properties,” Williams explained.

But the governor didn’t agree with how that money was going to be used.

“Ultimately, the governor vetoed it, which was devasting to the families that were counting on this, Williams said.

Williams tried with an omnibus bill to cover the cost but she said the state senate wouldn’t hear it.

“That means that right now, it’s at the end of the line for at least this legislative session,” Williams said.

Krob said losing the expected funding was “a hard blow.”

“It was hard to hear that day that it got vetoed when we had a plan and we were hoping for something to happen,” she said.

Krob said the now-vetoed plan wasn’t perfect for her family, but it would have worked.

“I’d like them to come out and live with us for a week, always conserving water, living with five people in one bathroom and only utilizing half of your home,” she said. “There’s no productive plan for what’s gonna happen now.”

But Williams isn’t giving up.

“We have got to take care of little specific instances such as the Prohaskas and the Krobs, and I want to do this, and I’m not done,” she said.

For Krob and her family, the game of waiting and hoping for whatever comes next continues.

“Going through this for six months. “I’m defiantly learning what hope is,” Krob said.

Williams said she’s looking at other ways to find funding, including working with the Kansas Corporation Commission to determine who is responsible for the water contamination.

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com

A man accused of helping steal and damage the bronze statue of baseball legend Jackie Robinson in Wichita, Kansas, pleaded guilty to the charges against him on Thursday, according to Sedgwick County District Court.

Ricky Alderete, 45, from Wichita, admitted to helping steal the statue from Jackie Robinson Pavilion in McAdams Park in January of this year and placing it in a pickup truck.

Alderete was among the suspects who authorities say cut off the statue at the ankles, leaving behind only Robinson’s feet. At the time, officials estimated the damage to be around $75,000.

Surveillance video captured at least three individuals entering Jackie Robinson Pavilion around midnight on Jan. 25, removing and departing with the statue, authorities previously said.

The statue was discovered dismantled and burned in a trash can fire on Jan. 30 in Garvey Park, authorities said.

On Thursday, Alderete pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, aggravated criminal damage to property, interference with law enforcement, criminal damage to property, theft, making a false writing, and identity theft, according to a press release from prosecutors.

District Judge Tyler Roush told Alderete the maximum sentence is 229 months, or over 19 years, in prison and six months in jail. Judge Roush also said he could order Alderete to pay $41,500 to League 42.

The statue was crafted by artist John Parsons and donated to the community by League 42, a nonprofit named after Robinson’s number with the Brooklyn Dodgers that aims to introduce baseball to the youth of Wichita.

According to the Associated Press, League 42 paid about $50,000 for the sculpture, which was installed in 2021.

Alderete is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1.

Robinson is known for being the first baseball player to break the color barrier in the modern era of Major League Baseball. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro leagues and the minor league Montreal Royals before being signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

The signing signaled the end of segregated baseball and led to other Black players joining the major leagues. During his time with the Dodgers, Robinson won Rookie of the Year in 1947, was named National League MVP in 1949, was a six-time All-Star and won the World Series in 1955.