(Updated 7/30 w/full name of suspect & city of residence)

A 18-year old man from Sioux City who tried to evade an Iowa State Patrol Trooper on Interstate 80 eastbound in Cass County this (Wednesday) morning, suffered from an apparent back injury when he wrecked the vehicle in a ditch near the Marne exit off I-80 eastbound. He was not wearing a seat belt. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Jim Bullington told KJAN News the incident began at around 7:42-a.m., near the Walnut exit.

He says Senior Trooper Craig Zenor was traveling eastbound on I-80 when a car came up behind his patrol vehicle. The suspect’s car was traveling 15-miles per hour over the posted speed limit. When Zenor pulled the vehicle over, the driver got out and gave a false name to the Trooper. A check of the man’s ID in his wallet showed the driver’s name was Jacob Parker Erickson.

Shortly thereafter, Erickson got out of the Trooper’s car and into the stolen vehicle, a 1999 Chrylser Concorde, and took off. A pursuit began, with speeds up to 100-miles per hour. Erickson exited the interstate at the Marne exit at a high rate of speed, where he lost control of the car, which vaulted across the exit and landed in a field on the southeast side of the exit.

The car was totaled in the crash. Erickson fled the vehicle on foot, ran up a hill and into some heavy brush and “hunkered down next to a tree.” Trooper Kenny Jensen, who was flying nearby in preparation for a traffic enforcement mission, was able to see the suspect from the air crawling on his hands and knees, and kept him under observation until authorities could arrive on the scene.

K9 units from the Cass and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Departments arrived on the scene at virtually the same time. After Erickson was warned the dogs would be deployed, he surrendered without incident at around 8:17-a.m.  Trooper Bullington says authorities confirmed the car was stolen out of Sioux City, along with tools that were found inside the vehicle.

Erickson was transported to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs for treatment of his injuries. When he’s released, he’ll be taken into custody on warrants for Felony eluding, OWI, and numerous traffic violations. The Iowa DOT’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers assisted the State Patrol and Sheriff’s deputies in handling the incident.