A Chicago man was arrested Saturday after crashing the stolen car he was driving while trying to elude the Earlham police.
Valentino Vertice Varnado, 28, of 1428 S. Trumbull Ave., Chicago, was charged with eluding, failure to obey stop sign and yield right of way and as a fugitive from justice.
Iowa State Patrol, Adair County, the Madison County Sheriff’s office gave chase and Varnado crashed in Dallas County
The incident began about 9:30 a.m. Saturday near the 104 mile marker of eastbound U.S. Interstate 80, where an officer of the Earlham Police Department observed a 2007 Ford Fusion that matched the description of a vehicle stolen out of Kansas and driven by a person wanted in Wisconsin for parole violation.
The officer activated the emergency lights on the patrol vehicle, but the driver of the Ford, Varnado, did not stop but “took off,” exiting at the 106 mile marker and traveling eastbound on County Road F90 at speeds exceeding 115 mph and running the stop sign at U.S. Highway 169 “before wrecking into the ditch,” according to court records.
The Ford “rolled multiple times” before coming to rest, according to public safety radio traffic, but Varnado was uninjured in the crash.
Varnado is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $5,000 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 7 in Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
