DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says law enforcement officers were legally justified when they returned fire at a fugitive from Wisconsin during an incident on Interstate 80 last month. The AG’s Office Thursday evening released a 13-page report on the determination. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation reviewed body camera footage, car cameras, drone footage and other evidence to reach this conclusion. https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom/iowa-attorney-generals-office-concludes-dallas-county-deputies-adair-county-deputy-adel-police-of

Around 1:30 a.m. on April 15, Vonderrick Rayford, of Milwaukee, was stopped by Dallas County Deputy Jacob Spurrell on Interstate 80 in Dallas County for excessive speeding. According to the attorney general’s report, Spurrell was sitting in his patrol vehicle running Rayford’s information when Rayford got out of his vehicle and began firing at the deputy. The report says Rayford also fired at the several other law enforcement officers who responded to Spurrell’s notice of shots fired.

After several other officers arrived, Rayford fled across the highway median and eventually stood in the westbound lanes with his hands up and the gun on the ground at his feet. Despite multiple commands to back away from the weapon, Rayford remained near it. When officers approached within a few feet, Rayford picked up the gun and raised it at them, at which point deputies Spurrell, Eric Grimm, and Tyler DeFrancisco, along with Adel police officer Joel Gummert, fired their weapons, ultimately fatally wounding Rayford. Rayford died at the scene.

“The actions of all law enforcement officers who fired their weapons at Vonderrick Rayford on April 15, 2025, were legally justified,” the Iowa Attorney General’s Office found. “Rayford escalated a routine traffic stop into a deadly shooting that endangered the lives of multiple law enforcement officers and all other persons who were using the interstate that night.”

In the days following the shooting, law enforcement learned that Rayford had a warrant out for a parole violation in Wisconsin and just two days prior had been involved in a shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he allegedly shot a woman in the head and fired at an officer. The vehicle Rayford was driving was determined to have been stolen out of Colorado. Rayford also had prior felony convictions, including assault on a peace officer.

The officers involved in the incident, who have been cleared of any wrongdoing, include:

Dallas County Sheriff’s Office

• Deputy Jacob Spurrell
• Deputy Eric Grimm
• Deputy Drew Hurley

Adel Police Department

• Officer Joel Gummert

Stuart Police Department

• Officer Shane Martinson

Adair County Sheriff’s Office

• Deputy Tyler DeFrancisco

(Boone County, Iowa) – A collision Thursday morning southwest of Boone resulted in the death of a man from Boone. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2003 Ford Ranger pickup truck driven by 89-year-old Dale Ray Crouse, of Boone, was traveling south on Montana Avenue at around 8:24-a.m, when Crouse failed to yield to a 2006 Ford Mustang, driven by 17-year-old Aubrey Rose Alexander, of Templeton, as she was traveling east on Highway 30.

Boone County S/O Facebook page photo, 5/29/25

When the teen was unable to avoid the collision, her car struck the pickup. Crouse was transported by ambulance to the Boone County Hospital, where he died from his injuries.  The Boone County Sheriff’s Office said Aubrey Alexander was checked by medical personnel on scene and released.

Multiple agencies assisted at the crash scene.

(Radio Iowa) – State Treasurer Roby Smith is celebrating the I-Save 529 state educational savings plan today (Thursday) on May 29th. Smith says there have been some changes made in the plan recently. “We raised the contribution amount that can be written off on your Iowa taxes to 58-hundred dollars ($5,800) per individual. Also, they can spend the money that they accrue in there for K through 12 tuition, apprenticeship programs, trade school. They can even do a student loan repayment up to ten-thousand dollars if they’d like,” Smith says.

Smith says you can tailor the plan to how aggressive you want to be in planning for the future. “If they want to have a little bit more risk, they can go ahead and invest in something that covers the entire stock market. If they want to have a little bit less risk, they can do more bonds, less stock market. It just depends on what their risk tolerance is,” Smith says. He says the earlier you start, the more money you’ll have to pay for your child’s education.

“If you think about this way, if you have 18 years, if you start when you’re a child is first born, and you put in two dollars a day, less than a cup of coffee, you’ll have over 13-thousand dollars in contributions by the time they turn 18,” Smith says. “And that doesn’t even count any growth in the investment that they could have.”

Changes in state and federal law now allow you to use that account after your child later in life. “If there’s money left over on the account and you’ve had it open for at least 15 years, you can turn over up to 35-thousand dollars. You can put it into your child’s Roth I-R-A. Not only do you help them for school, but now you can set them up for retirement,” he says.

Smith says you can start an account with a little as 25 dollars by going to iowa529.com.

(Radio  Iowa) – An Iowan claims a sports betting company owes him over $14 million.

Nicholas Bavas, who lives in Dallas County, is suing DraftKings for bets he made on the results of a golf tournament in February of last year. DraftKings accepted his bets before officials announced the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am wouldn’t be played due to rain. Ben Lynch is the attorney handling the case.”If you lost, they took your money,” Lynch said. “If you won, they gave you a refund. That’s the facts as I’m aware.”

The 37-year-old Iowan knew there was a chance the last round would be cancelled due to weather, he looked at the list of third round leaders and placed $325 worth of bets late Saturday night and early Sunday. After several delays, the tournament’s final round was cancelled Sunday night. “That’s what gambling is — you’re trying to win,” Lynch said. “…It’s a game, you know. He’s playing the game. He won the game, so they should pay him.”

The lawsuit alleges DraftKings rules for refunds did not appear to apply to the type of bets Bavas made, which were bets on how multiple players would finish rather than on a single player winning the tournament. DraftKings has not responded to the lawsuit, which has been transferred from state to federal court. Last year others who made similar bets took to social media to complain about how DraftKings handled wagers before the tournament was cancelled.

(Radio Iowa) – Memorial Day weekend may be the unofficial start of summer, but the warm weather will arrive a week late this year. After high temperatures much of this week below normal in the 60s and 70s, meteorologist Dave Cousins, at the National Weather Service in Davenport, says a heat wave will start to roll in on Friday, with a steamy forecast for next week.

“There’s been this pesky storm system here that’s been lingering across the upper Midwest, which is why it’s been kind of cool and showers each day here the last week,” Cousins says. “That’s finally going to move off to the east later today, and as that does that, high pressure is going to build into the area and it will be noticeably warmer even by tomorrow.”

The forecast calls for much of Iowa to see highs Friday in the upper 70s and low 80s, with a gradual increase coming as the month of June nears. “It’s just a little bit warmer each day. Saturday’s in the mid 80s,” Cousins says, “and here in the Quad Cities, we do have 90 in the forecast on Monday and again on Tuesday.”

You may need to make adjustments to stay comfy. (Radio Iowa photo)

Some long-time residents say it’s just not Iowa unless you run both the heater and the air conditioner in your car the same week, sometimes on the same day. Along with the relatively abrupt changes in temperature comes the risk of severe weather, so Cousins reminds Iowans to be “weather aware.”

“There are chances next week for showers and storms nearly every day after Monday,” he says, “so keep an eye out for more active weather next week.” The first day of meteorological summer is June 1st, though the season won’t officially arrive until June 20th.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – On May 12, 2025, the Davenport Police Department requested assistance from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Scott County Sheriff’s Office with an officer-involved shooting in Davenport, Iowa.

At approximately 3:13 a.m., Davenport officers responded to a reported domestic disturbance involving a knife in the 1700 block of Jersey Ridge Road in Davenport. Law enforcement arrived on scene and located two females who were involved in the domestic incident outside of the residence. While officers were outside interviewing the two involved parties, gunshots were heard from inside the residence.

Shortly after hearing the gunshots, Davionce Lackey, a 26-year-old female, exited the back door of the house armed with a handgun. Lackey pointed the firearm in the direction of the involved parties and the officers and fired. The officers returned fire, striking Lackey multiple times.

Officers provided emergency medical care to Lackey, who was later transported to a medical center. Lackey was treated for her injuries and released. The officers and the other two involved parties were not injured during the incident.

Both officers are members of the Davenport Police Department and have been identified as:

Officer Dan Hylton (four-year veteran)

Officer Michael Hogan (four-year veteran)

Both officers remain on critical incident leave pending a review by the Scott County Attorney’s Office. This is an ongoing investigation. No additional information will be released at this time.

(Mount Ayr, Iowa) – The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office, today (Thursday), said a woman from Mount Ayr was arrested Wednesday afternoon on multiple drug charges, following an investigation that led to several search warrants being executed. Authorities say 52-year-old Laura Michelle Vaughn faces charges that include:

• Felony Gathering Where Controlled Substances are Used
• Maintaining a Drug House (Aggravated Misdemeanor)
• Possession of Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine 2nd Offense (Aggravated Misdemeanor)
• Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (Simple Misdemeanor)
  

  Laura Michelle Vaughn (Ringgold CO S/O photo)

Vaughan was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on a $9,300 cash-only bond. Her arrest stems from a Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office investigation into possible criminal activity four addresses (shown below), AKA “Ramsey Farms,” in rural Ringgold County.

• 2285 270th Ave, Mount Ayr
• 2288 270th Ave, Mount Ayr
• 2289 270th Ave, Mount Ayr
• 2296 270th Ave, Mount Ayr

The properties were suspected as a “drug hub” and hangout for individuals unlawfully using and selling controlled substances. In the last several months, the Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of outside law enforcement agencies, compiled a list of individuals and criminal activity supporting the above claims, resulting in an execution of a search warrant at “Ramsey Farms”.

Agencies Involved in the investigation and execution of search warrants, include: The Ringgold, Taylor, Decatur and Union County Sheriff’s Offices; The Creston and Afton Police Departments; Iowa Dept. of Narcotics Enforcement (DNE); Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR); Ringgold County Conservation;, Maryville, MO. PD, and the Multi-Jurisdictional Entry Team (MJET)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), said that at around 11:20-p.m. on May 20th (2025), Sheriff’s Deputies with assistance from the Atlantic Police Department, executed a search warrant at a residence in Atlantic. The warrant was part of an ongoing investigation into suspected drug activity.

As a result of the search, two individuals were taken into custody:

51-year-old Gene Christopher Reed, of Atlantic, was arrested and charged with: Drug Trafficking (5 grams – 100 kilograms of methamphetamine), Ineligible to Carry Dangerous Weapons, Gathering Where Controlled Substances Are Used, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Drug Tax Stamp Violations.

61-year-old Brian Joseph Iwersen, of Atlantic, was arrested and charged with: Drug Trafficking (5 grams – 100 kilograms of methamphetamine), Gathering Where Controlled Substances Are Used, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Drug Tax Stamp Violations. Both Reed and Iwersen were transported to the Cass County Jail, where they were booked and held.

Upon further investigation, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office issued additional charges on May 28th, 2025, related to the initial arrests. Iwersen was charged with: Felon in Control of a Firearm, Trafficking in Stolen Weapons, and Theft – 4th Degree. He remains in custody at the Cass County Jail on a $35,000 cash or surety bond.

Reed was charged with: Theft – 4th Degree. He also remains in custody at the Cass County Jail on a $35,000 cash or surety bond.