In an update to our earlier online and broadcast reports, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released information about a chase that began Tuesday night near Lewis and ended in Atlantic.  Officials say at around 9:30-p.m. deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office attempted a traffic stop at 630th Street and Highway 71 upon a Missouri-plated 2002 Dodge pickup. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued.

The vehicle headed north through Lewis on M56 and turned east onto White Pole Road. The Atlantic Police Department deployed stop sticks just past White Pole and Lansing Roads. The vehicle continued toward Atlantic. The front tires blew as the vehicle crossed into Atlantic city limits, and the vehicle eventually came to a stop at 7th and Birch Streets in the eastbound (oncoming traffic) lane.

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 34-year old Thomas Jeremiah Bradbury, of St. Joseph, MO, on a  felony charge of Eluding, along with OWI/1st offense, and Reckless Driving (Nonscheduled Offense). Bradbury was also written three citations for Speeding and one citation for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign. He was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $6,000 bond and a detainer for the State of Missouri.

Two men from Atlantic were arrested on separate charges this week. According to the Atlantic Police Department, 50-year old Paul Prall, of Atlantic, was arrested this (Wednesday) morning for Harassement in the 1st Degree, and OWI. And, on Tuesday, 24-year old Austin Schmitt, of Atlantic, was arrested for Criminal Mischief in the 5th degree, and two counts of Simple Assault.

Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Atlantic Rock Island Depot at 102 N. Chestnut Street will be the site for a seminar designed to help small businesses owners conduct their social media strategy. The class will address the basics of creating a social media strategy, and discuss the best practices to help leverage social media to grow your business.

The session takes place on Wed., Aug. 23rd, from 9-until 10:30-a.m. There is no cost to attend. Coffee and rolls will be served. Make your reservation online at www.iowawesternsbdc.com/events.

The event is made possible in-part through a cooperative agreement through the U-S Small Business Administration, America’s SBDC (Association of Small Business Development Centers)/Iowa at Iowa Western Community College, and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

TYNDALL, S.D. (AP) – An Iowa man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for assaulting a South Dakota police officer with his vehicle. Thirty-seven-year-old Travis McPeek, of Sioux City, Iowa, was accused of striking Tyndall Police Officer Kelly Young with his vehicle during a traffic stop on Aug. 6, 2016, dragging him across a parking lot and driving away. He was arrested in Arizona two months later.

Young suffered broken ribs, cuts, bruises and an injured foot. He was out of work for a month. He tells The Daily Republic that he still struggles with physical and emotional injuries.

A jury last month convicted McPeek of aggravated assault against a law officer, and he was sentenced this week to prison and ordered to pay more than $14,000 in restitution.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A judge has decided the trials won’t be moved out of Polk County for the adoptive parents of a West Des Moines teenager who officials say was starved to death. Court records say Judge Karen Romano ruled Monday that Nicole Finn and Joseph Finn II have not sufficiently shown that pretrial publicity has ruined any chance for fair trials in Polk County.

Nicole Finn is charged with murder and other charges in the death of 16-year-old Natalie Finn. Her trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 23. Joseph Finn II is charged with kidnapping, neglect or abandonment and child endangerment. His trial is set to begin Nov. 27.

The judge says she’ll reconsider her ruling if it becomes apparent that further pretrial publicity will prevent fair Polk County trials for both.