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Police standoff in Manawa

A woman’s anger after the city mowed her lawn led to criminal charges.

Stephanie Jo Lubahn, 38, Manawa, was charged with threatening an officer and disorderly conduct.

As part of its efforts to enforce its nuissance oridnances, the city of Manawa is sending notices to some residents, warning them to remove the junk from their yards or mow their grass.

If the residents fail to comply after repeated warnings, the city will clean up the mess and access their property taxes.

On the afternoon of June 6, two city workers were mowing Lubahn’s lawn on the 600 block of Depot Street.

Manawa Police Officer Clint Schroeder was parked on the street, on standby.

“Stephanie did not come out of the house until the lawn was almost completed,” Schroeder reported.

The officer reported that she screamed at him to get away from her house, yelled profanities at him and pointed her middle finger at him.

Schroeder exited his squad car and advised Lubahn that she needed to calm down or he would arrest her for disorderly conduct.

Schroeder also told her he was there to ensure no trouble occurred while the city crew mowed her lawn.

According to the criminal complaint, Lubahn continued screaming, then returned to her house.

Schroeder contacted Chief Jim Gorman who came to the scene to assist.

As Schroeder and Gorman approached the door to make contact, dispatch advised that Lubahn said she was going to shoot any officer who came onto her property.

Schroeder and Gorman backed away from the house and took cover. Deputies arrived to assist and Schroeder and Gorman made several unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Lubahn over the phone.

For nearly three hours, there was a standoff outside Lubahn’s house.

In addition to Lubahn, there were two young adults and one child in the house.

Gorman contacted Manawa Cpl. Michelle Kamba, who was off duty, because she had good rapport with Lubahn, Gorman said.

Kamba called and began negotiating with Lubahn to leave the house.

First, the three other people in the house came outside and were secured. Then, Lubahn exited the house and was arrested.

On June 8, Lubahhn was released from custody on a $2,000 signature bond with the conditions that she not take any medications without a prescription and not possess any weapons.

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