Category: State News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines Police Department officer was assaulted during a traffic stop Tuesday night. It happened when an officer pulled Mafiano Brown over on the city’s east side. Brown got out of his car and ran. When the officer caught up to him, they were assaulted and their radio was taken. The officer was treated and released from the hospital. Investigators said they later found out Brown was armed with a gun.

GRUNDY CENTER, IA (IRN) – Michael Lang, the 41-year-old man accused of shooting and killing Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith has been booked into jail. Lang was released from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Wednesday. He’s in the Black Hawk County Jail being held on $3 million cash bond.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines woman pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder in the case of hitting two juveniles with her vehicle. Nicole Marie Poole, 42, hit a 12-year-old boy in December 2019. Later that day, Poole used a vehicle to strike a 14-year-old girl, telling police it was because the girl was “Mexican.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Sen. Chuck Grassley says he’s ready to work with Democrats on police reform. Grassley said the Justice Act he co-sponsored last year would improve police accountability while preserving the essential services law enforcement provides.

IOWA (IRN) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that “vaccine hesitancy is beginning to become a real factor” in Iowa and across the country. The Republican governor implored Iowans to take the vaccine, as she did. She said, “I want to appeal to everyone who’s hesitating…if you’re opting to wait and see, what are you waiting for? If you’ve been a hard ‘no’ from the start, what’s your reason? And if you can’t answer those questions, maybe, we hope, that you take the time to reconsider.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A man pulled two people from a fiery crash on Interstate 80 near Council Bluffs Tuesday morning. They are recovering in the hospital. Runk Wood says he’s not a hero, but just did what he had to do. “You can’t be scared to help people,” Wood said.

EAGLE GROVE, IA (IRN) – A judge has found a man suspected of killing a coworker at a northern Iowa meat processing plant too mentally unfit to stand trial. A judge ordered Lukouxs Brown, 26, to be turned over to the Iowa Department of Corrections’ Medical and Classification Center. The judge found that Brown suffers from a mental disorder that prevents him from understanding the first-degree murder charge brought against him. Brown was charged after the February stabbing death of 50-year-old Wayne Smith at the Prestage Foods plant in Eagle Grove.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Police arrested a Cedar Rapids woman on Arson charges after she set a home on fire. Officials said 44-year-old Dana Marie Chappuie attempted to cause a house fire and explosion after talking about burning down the house. Investigators found a five-gallon gas can in the room where the fire started, and a natural gas line in the basement had been detached from a clothes dryer and turned on.

DALLAS COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A man stole a Iowa State Trooper’s cruiser Tuesday and led authorities on a chase that ended in Madison County. Brandon Eugene Doerring, of Dallas Center, is charged in the case. A trooper checking on a disabled vehicle on Interstate 80 near Dexter spotted Doerring walking along the roadway. The trooper found drug paraphernalia on Doerring and took him into custody, but he was somehow able to steal the trooper’s vehicle.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids man had two vehicles stolen from his driveway in a week. The first vehicle was involved in a hit and run, and the second was found 60 miles away. Keys to both vehicles were in the console of the first vehicle stolen.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines police officer seriously injured by an alleged drunk driver last year has sued the driver as well as the southern Iowa casino where he claims bartenders overserved the motorist before the crash. Officer Jon Kaufman was awaiting a tow truck to remove another vehicle from the side of Interstate 35 just after midnight on Nov. 8 when a car driven by Jon Schwartz, 61, of Kellogg struck the car he was sitting in, seriously injuring both men. He had been drinking at Lakeside Casino in Osceola.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two men are charged with committing a hate crime in Polk County after they allegedly assaulted a man while yelling racial slurs. Rural Polk County resident Robert Ray Shelton, 49, and Swan resident Joseph William Rossing, 35, are charged with assault causing bodily injury in violation of individual rights – Iowa’s hate crime charge. The pair punched a Black man several times Saturday while yelling slurs.

WAVERLY, IA (IRN) – A Waverly man was killed in a farming accident north of Waverly Monday. Dale Clewell, 63, was working on a field planter when a jack lifting it up moved, causing the equipment to fall on him and kill him.

JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – One person is dead after a semi rolled into a ditch in Johnson County Monday. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

IOWA (IRN) – As many Iowans have been vaccinated, 43 counties declined their allocation of COVID-19 Vaccines for this week.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines couple faces charges after police said their 16-year-old son with special needs was zip-tied to a chair. On February 22, 48-year-old Jennifer Marie Ryan brought her 16-year-old son to work with her. She then zip-tied the boy to a chair. Further investigation found that the boy was routinely confined to his bedroom for several months and on occasion restrained to his bed frame by zip ties. He was also denied food, among other abuses. Ryan and her husband 47-year-old Richard Joe Ryan, are charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines Police Department recovered the body of a man from a car in a lagoon Sunday. Police said the body and the vehicle appeared to have been in the water for “a considerable length of time.” Mushroom hunters spotted the vehicle.

JANESVILLE, IA (IRN) – An 18-year-old Janesville man was arrested after he crashed a stolen vehicle while fleeing from authorities. Dakota Moeller was arrested on suspicion of second-degree felony theft, eluding police and carrying a weapon on school grounds. The vehicle Moeller was driving had been stolen from a Janesville home earlier on Sunday.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Drake women’s basketball has a new head coach. Allison Pohlman will be stepping into the role after being a longtime associate head coach for the program. She has been a part of the program since 2007, in which she has assisted Drake to a record of 123-39.

DYERSVILLE, IA (IRN) – Some Dyersville companies are offering their employees incentives to get their vaccine shots. FarmTek, Clearspan, and TekSupply are all part of the Engineering Services and Products Company or ESAPCO. ESAPCO is encouraging employees to get vaccinated by offering a one-time $100 bonus and two extra days of vacation.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public health on Saturday reported seven new COVID-19 positive tests and eight additional deaths. Since the start of the pandemic there have been 5,878 total deaths in Iowa.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered flags be lowered to half-staff in remembrance of the Indianapolis shooting victims. The order goes into effect immediately and remains until sunset April 20. The order is in conjunction with President Joe Biden’s order to lower flags.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Although the weather has been cool and quiet for the last several days, all of that will change starting early next week. Beginning on Monday, temperatures will vary drastically across the region as a cold front approaches. Behind the front will be mostly rain, but also the potential for snow.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Hawkeyes fans returned to Kinnick Stadium for the first time since November 2019 on Saturday. The team held one of their two open spring practices. Masks were required, and fans and players took part in the Hawkeye Wave tradition.