Criminal charges are pending in the high-speed pursuit along the Raccoon River Valley Trail between Minburn and Perry Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the Dallas County Sheriff’s office.
“This investigation is still on-going, and charges are pending the results of follow-up investigation and lab results,” Chief Dallas County Deputy Sheriff Adam Infante said Thursday morning.
Infante said the identity of the driver of the dirt bike is not being released at this time because the case is still open.
The incident began at 6:40 p.m. when a caller reported seeing “a male driving a blue dirt bike and a female driving a red four-wheeler in Minburn,” Infante’s statement said. A Dallas County Deputy Sheriff responded, located the vehicles and “began a pursuit of the dirt bike and the four-wheeler on the bike trail on the north side of Minburn. The four-wheeler split off from the dirt bike, and the deputy continued to pursue the dirt bike.”
The vehicles soon left the city streets, and the chase continued northward on the Raccoon River Valley Trail near the Heartland Cooperative. The 16-minute pursuit, at times reaching speeds of 65 mph, “went on and off the bike trail and on and off of gravel roads north of Minburn before the driver eventually circled back and went south on the bike trail back toward Minburn,” the statement said.
Dallas County Deputey Sheriffs were assisted in the pursuit by Boone County Deputy Sheriffs and officers of the Perry Police Department.
The chase came to an end, according to the law enforcement statement, when “a Dallas County Deputy was in the Heartland Co-op, and the driver of the dirt bike ran into the rear passenger side of the Dallas County Deputy’s patrol vehicle.”
The driver sustained injuries in the collision and transported by the Dallas County EMS to the Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.
“The driver was conscious and alert before he left the scene of the accident,” the DCSO statement said.
The Minburn Fire and Rescue also responded to the incident.
ThePerryNews.com will update this story as information becomes available.
Just a casual observation but it appears to me most course changes during police chases are to the right. Perhaps veering to the left would be a more efficient and successful strategy. Instinctive behavior favors ones stronger side, this being the right for most people. Indeed, if I had enough of a lead, I’d just stop somewhere I could hide, turn off the engine and let the police pass. Then, I’d go to the left. I might circle back but I would not go back the way I came. Presence of mind is everything.
What a great place to tell the world what you would do. Bravo to you, man.