CRIME & COURTS

Chase suspect jumps from car a second before it crashes

MacKenzie Elmer
melmer@dmreg.com

A man who led a state trooper on a high-speed pursuit down Interstate 235 Wednesday jumped from his car a second before it crashed into a garage.

The chase began when an Iowa state patrolman tried to stop a car without license plates on I-235 near Keosaqua Way, according to the patrolman. The driver took off, blowing through two stoplights on a busy off-ramp and led the trooper into a parking lot of the River Hills Apartments, 700 East Fifth Street. 

A driver led Iowa State Patrol on a chase down I-235 before crashing into a garage. But suspect jumped out of the passenger-side window just before impact, and took off running.

With the trooper just behind him, the man drove his car through a garage, but jumped out of the passenger-side window just before it crashed, trooper dash camera footage shows. The man smashed a wooden piece of siding attached to the brick garage and took off running south behind the complex. 

Authorities were unable to chase him down on foot.

On Thursday, the State Patrol released a patrol car dashboard-camera video of the suspect and asked for the public to provide any information on his identity or his whereabouts.

In a message accompanying the video, the State Patrol asked people to not approach the suspect if they see him. Authorities ask anyone with information on the suspect to call 911 or State Patrol Communications at 515-323-4360.

A driver led an Iowa State Patrol trooper on a chase Wednesday down Interstate 235 before crashing into a garage. But the suspect jumped out of the passenger-side window just before impact and took off running.