A man from Arkansas was injured during a single-vehicle accident Thursday night, in Fremont County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2010 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 55-year old Christopher Majka, of Bellevue, NE., was traveling in the left lane northbound on Interstate 29 at around mile marker eight, when the vehicle went out of control. The accident happened at around 7:20-p.m.

The pickup crossed into the right lane and into the east ditch, where it struck a pedestrian, 65-year old Thomas A. Ronsick, of Searcy, Arkansas. Ronsick was standing next to the road following a previous accident, when he was struck. He was transported by LifeNet helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center. A report on his condition was not immediately available.

The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has been accused of unfairly targeting a gay Democratic state senator when he was a federal prosecutor in Iowa. Whitaker pursued an attempted extortion case against Matt McCoy in 2007, alleging the lawmaker tried to shake down a businessman for payments. But the case fell apart at trial, and McCoy was quickly acquitted. McCoy says the case destroyed his finances and stalled his political career.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say they have arrested a suspected driver of a cement truck who ran from the scene after plowing into a van and then a house, seriously injuring one person. The Des Moines Register reports that the crash happened Thursday morning when the cement truck ran two stop lights and hit the van. Two people in the house were unharmed; the driver of the van was hospitalized.

ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Federal prosecutors in Iowa say 23-year-old Austin Marek, of Anamosa, was sentenced Thursday to 136 months in prison after pleading guilty in June to one count of possession of child pornography.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The governors of Iowa and Nebraska have ordered flags lowered to half-staff at state buildings to honor the victims of the nightclub massacre in Thousand Oaks, California. Orders from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts were issued Thursday in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s order to lower all U.S. flags to half-staff through sunset Saturday.

Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue was presented with the Humane Society of the United States’ Humane Law Enforcement Award, Thursday morning, for “His leadership in combating illegal animal abuse.” The award was presented to him at the Police Department, by Preston Moore, Iowa State Director, State Affairs, for the Humane Society, based in Cedar Rapids. The award was with regard to a horrific case of animal abuse that resulted in the death of a dog, in Nov. 2017. The suspect, Jason Michael Anderton, of Atlantic, who was 29 at the time, was arrested in January, 2018.

Humane Society of IA Director Preston Moore presented Lt. Devin Hogue with an Humane Law Enforcement Award. (photo courtesy Lt. Hogue)

Hogue says he worked with other officers in conducting the investigation. He said “We hit some road bumps along the way,” the result of which left doubt in his mind about whether the investigation would be able to move forward. “Out of the blue, [I] received a phone call from the Humane Society, offering up any assistance that they could.” As a result of continued discussions and working with the Humane Society, Hogue said “In the long run they were approved to pay a bill [for] forensic testing to further our case, to really allow us to pursue some charges. In the end we were able to secure and get some charges out of it.”

Lt. Hogue said during the investigation into the abuse, “We basically went back and connected the dots the best we could, and we hit a couple of spots where we easily could have said ‘I don’t know where to go from here, I think we’re stuck.”  Thankfully, he says the Humane Society reached out and “If we can be a resource…”

Tissue and specimen blood samples of the dog were sent to California, to be tested and compared with samples sent to the ISU Veterinary Clinic in Ames. The Humane Society paid for a necropsy on the dog, which is similar to an autopsy on a human. Overall, Hogue said the Humane Society shelled-out over $2,000.

The case against Anderton, who turned 30 in September, ended a couple of months ago with the guilty plea as part of deal. Hogue said he wanted to thank for Cass County Attorney Michael Hooper for “Taking the reins [in the case],” which Hogue said had been in an “in-between” up until he took over. He said “The first thing I ever had a conversation with him about, was this case, and where I was kind of stuck. [We] Took his guidance as well and we were able to get somewhere with it.” As a result, a charge of Animal Abuse was dismissed by Judge Jeffrey Larson. Anderton plead guilty to one count of Animal Torture 1^st offense. He was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $315, plus serve one-year of probation.

Ever so humble, Lt. Hogue thanked the Humane Society for the unexpected award. He said “This is a job, this is what we’re supposed to do, is take these complaints and investigate them best we can. I had several officers within the department that helped me along the way with collecting evidence and doing every part that they could to help out.” It was a definite team effort he said, and while Hogue got the award for being the lead investigator, he said he “Was certainly not the only person that put in some time and effort to make this happen.”

Authorities say no injuries were reported following a collision between a car and semi Thursday, in Creston. The accident happened at around 1:25-p.m. on Highway 34, when a 2015 Kia Cadenza driven by 54-year-old Caroline Esther Bathurst of Creston was traveling east on Highway 34 in the center lane, and attempted to change lanes into the outside lane. Her car collided with a semi traveling the same direction.

According to a passenger in the Kia, the Semi continued east and didn’t stop after the accident. Bathurst pulled her vehicle off into the nearby John Deere parking lot. When Creston Police asked Bathurst if she was okay, she initially did not respond and rolled up the window. After being asked several times to roll down the window down, she eventually admitted that she did not have insurance on the vehicle and wanted to drive the vehicle home. The car was determined to be okay to drive. It sustained an estimated $7,000 damage. Bathurst was issued a citation for no insurance and was allowed to drive her vehicle home from the scene.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s tallest building has been evacuated and more than two dozen people are hospitalized after cleaning-solution fumes spread through the building.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the First National Tower was ordered evacuated Thursday after workers began complaining of a strong odor and breathing problems.

Fire department officials say more than 60 people were assessed by emergency crews, and 25 were taken to a nearby hospital.

Nebraska Medical Center says all of the patients are expected to recover and no one required aggressive treatment. Some patients were released later in the day.

About 2,000 people work at the 46-story building.

First National Bank spokesman Kevin Langin says the fumes were reported as crews used a de-scaling solution on a humidifier connected to the building’s air system.

Firefighters are running tests to see whether the building can reopen Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say they have arrested a suspected driver of a cement truck who ran from the scene after plowing into a van and then a house, seriously injuring one person.

The Des Moines Register reports that the crash happened Thursday morning when the cement truck ran two stop lights and hit the van. The truck continued through a fence before crashing into the house, which was heavily damaged. Two people inside the home at the time were not injured.

Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says the cement truck driver took off running from the crash.

The driver of the van was taken to a hospital with serious injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Parizek says the man, whose name has not been released, “fought ferociously” with at least four officers after being spotted on a Des Moines street. He was soon subdued and taken to a hospital for evaluation.