An investigation by the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Investigation & Identity Protection has uncovered fraudulent business practices at Adams Motor Company, in Denison. Due to the nature of this criminal behavior, the Iowa DOT is in the process of revoking the vehicle dealer’s license that was issued to Robert Adams for this business. Customers alleged Adams was mishandling the money they paid for certain services related to vehicle purchases. The investigation discovered funds paid by customers for title transfers, warranty contracts, and protection plans were kept by the dealership and not forwarded to the agencies that provide these services, leaving the customer without the intended coverage they had paid for.

The dealership also sold property that had outstanding loans and then failed to pay off lending institutions. Customers who bought this property were unable to get a clear title since the lending institution maintains possession of the title until the loans are paid. As a result of the investigation, Robert Adams was arrested on multiple felony charges that included ongoing criminal conduct. He has also been charged with multiple counts of theft in the first degree and one count of theft in the second degree for selling secured property and not providing payment to the lending institutions.

SUTHERLAND, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man was pronounced dead at a hospital after being pulled from a creek in northwest Iowa. Sutherland police say 41-year-old Daniel Wetherell was found underwater at the bottom of Murray Creek early Sunday morning. A vehicle was snagged on a guardrail nearby. Police say Wetherell was pronounced dead later at a Primghar hospital.

The accident is being investigated. Authorities say Wetherell was director of Sutherland’s General N.B. Baker Library.

Investigators in Iowa have concluded their investigation into an incident that took place at around 5-a.m. May 4th in Belle Plaine, where a mother and son were struck by a train. Authorities say based on evidence collected at the home of 36-year old Teresa Gerleman, interviews of Union Pacific Railroad employees, video footage from the Union Pacific engine, and a multitude of a sundry interviews, the conclusion is Gerleman committed suicide, and pulled her eight-year old son Henry Fields into the path of the train. Both died at the scene.

Evidence at the impact site indicates Gerleman waited near the railroad tracks for the Union Pacific train to approach. She and her son can be seen on video crossing the tracks and as the train draws near. She then returned to the center of the tracks and at the last moment pulled her son into the path of the train.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests this past week. A traffic stop on Interstate 80 at around 6-p.m. May 13th resulted in the arrest of two men from Illinois. An Iowa State Patrol Trooper pulled a car over for speeding 88-mph in a 70 zone at around mile marker 88. Upon further investigation, the Trooper arrested 27-year old Christopher J. Jackson, of Genoa, IL., and 27-year old John Michael Joseph Daniells, of Harvard, IL., for possession of a controlled substance/1st offense. Both men were released a couple of hours later on a $1,000 cash or surety bond, each.

On May 14th, 35-year old Luke Allan Mullen, of Bedford, was transported from the Adair/Union County line during a transfer from another agency, and brought to the Adair County Jail for Violation of a No Contact Order. Mullen was released on the 17th, after posting a $300 bond. And, 34-year old Adam Michael Roan, of Bridgewater, was arrested Saturday afternoon following a traffic stop on Highway 92 near 250th Street in Adair County. Roan was arrested for Driving While License denied or revoked for OWI Test Refusal. He was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.