Man Charged With Flood’s Levee Break

QUINCY, Ill. — A 23-year-old man has been charged with causing a levee break that flooded 15,000 acres and knocked out the only bridge on a 212-mile stretch of the Mississippi River during the summer’s Midwestern deluge.

James R. Scott of Fowler was jailed Saturday on a Missouri warrant issued a day earlier, said Sheriff Dan Campbell of Missouri’s Marion County. Scott was held in lieu of $1-million bond.

Quincy police were questioning Scott about a local burglary Friday when he implicated himself in the July 16 levee break at West Quincy, Mo., and was charged with knowingly causing a catastrophe, Campbell said.

Scott, whom authorities intend to extradite to Missouri, could be sentenced to 10 years to life in prison if convicted. Campbell said prosecutors have advised him not to disclose details about how the sabotage occurred.