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High Speed chase in western IA

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May 23rd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A high speed chase expanding through two western Iowa counties ended in rural Monona County Thursday morning. The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy had observed a vehicle acting suspiciously in a residential area near Sergeant Bluff around 7am. Lieutenant Charles Hertz said the vehicle was in an area it should not have been “When the vehicle saw law enforcement drive by, they immediately left the area and pulled into a private residence. Deputy Brand continued to monitor the vehicle and notated it spent a very short time in the driveway before backing out.”

A traffic stop was initiated by the deputy where the three individuals in the car, two males and a female, were asked to get out of the car. Hertz said “The vehicle already had damage on the driver side and the driver was unable to exit through the driver door. There was a female front seat passenger. She was requested to exit and did so. A male passenger in the back seat tried to exit the vehicle and the driver pulled off, abandoning the female passenger on the side of the road.”

The high speed pursuit began at that point with Deputy Brand following the vehicle through Sergeant Bluff and Salix on Highway 75. Authorities believe at some point during the chase on Highway 75, the occupants were throwing items believed to be narcotics. The chase continued south of Sloan on Highway 141 where stop sticks were deployed east of Hornick.

Lt. Hertz said during the chase the driver called 911 threatening harm to himself if the deputy did not back off. Speeds topped out around 80 to 90mph during the chase. He says about an hour into the chase a pit maneuver was made. “A Sergeant was able to execute a pit maneuver and caused the vehicle to lose control. The vehicle subsequently crashed and the two occupants were taken to Burgess Memorial Hospital.”

The occupants were identified as David Whitlock, who was the driver and the male passenger was Randell Durand, both of Sioux City. An update on their condition was not given. The abandoned female passenger was identified as Felicionna Ruies, of Sioux City. Charges are currently pending as drugs were found inside the vehicle and authorities were searching for the items thrown from the vehicle.

Lt. Hertz says the chase may not have happened at all without the STEP initiative. “The deputy that initiated the pursuit was working the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau traffic grant under the Click it or Ticket campaign. That was the reason he was out and had that extra deputy not been out, this would not have occurred.” The Woodbury County Sheriff’s were assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Monona County Sheriff’s, Mapleton PD, Mapleton Rescue and Ute Fire Department.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)