One of two high speed pursuits that took place Sunday evening and night began in Cass County. The first began just after 7-p.m., when Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh McLaren tried to stop a vehicle whose driver was wanted on Polk County warrant. The chase started on North Olive Street near the KJAN studios when McLaren initiated a traffic stop of a 2014 VW Passat.

Richard Randall Eatwell (Polk County Sheriff’s office photo) – 2013

The driver, 39-year old Richard Randall Eatwell, was wanted on a Polk County warrant for Parole Violation. The chase ended in a foot pursuit of the suspect, who was apprehended without further incident in the fenced-in back yard of a residence in Audubon, near the intersection of Poplar and Maple Streets, at around 7:26-p.m.

During the chase, the car traveled north on Olive Street towards Interstate 80, at speeds of up to 117-miles per hour. The VW then turned east onto Boston Road and reached speeds of 80-to 90 on the gravel, before it turned north on Highway 71.

The vehicle hit 118-miles per hour on the stretch between the Valley (Highway 71/Interstate 80), and Brayton. Along the way driver made several passes in a No Passing Zone and entered Brayton doing about 95 miles per hour.

Approaching Exira, speeds topped 120-miles per hour. The suspect’s vehicle turned east onto 250th Street near the Greenbriar Country Club in an effort to avoid stop-sticks, and then headed north on Lark Avenue until it came to the T-intersection with 220th, where it turned west while maintaining about 80-to 90 miles per hour. At 7:19-pm the car turned north onto Highway 71 heading into Audubon.

Assisting in the chase and arrest were deputies with the Audubon, Carroll and Shelby County Sheriff’s Offices, Audubon Police and the Iowa State Patrol. None of the officers or any civilians were injured during the chase and arrest.

Eatwell was previously arrested on March 27th, 2013 by Atlantic Police on a Feb. 2013 warrant out of Polk County, for a Parole Violation associated with Work Release. The second chase involved deputies with the Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, Cass, Adams and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Departments, and Omaha Police Helicopter Able 1. Details are currently not available on that incident.