CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (KCRG) – At 11:35 p.m. Saturday night, Black Hawk County Dispatch got a report of a reckless driver at University Avenue in Cedar Falls. The reckless driver, traveling very fast, passed a Cedar Falls Police Officer in the area. The Cedar Falls Police tried to start a traffic stop, but the driver didn’t pull over. Instead, the driver continued traveling south on Highway 58 before heading east on Highway 20. Officers followed the driver southbound on Ansborough and east on Schrock before heading south on Dysart Road. Officers began using stop sticks to start disabling the driver’s vehicle. The driver went to the 8400 block of Dysart Road and then tried to escape. He caused minor damage when he hit three patrol vehicles. The driver got out of the vehicle and attempted to escape the officers. However, he was taken into custody. Officers discovered that the driver was 32-year-old Brandon Blair Choate. Choate has been charged with eluding (Class C Felony), OWI third offense or subsequent (Class D Felony), driving while barred (aggravated misdemeanor), driving while revoked (serious misdemeanor), and interference with official acts (simple misdemeanor). Choate has also been charged with traffic violations. There were no injuries due to the car chase.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa National Guard’s commander is set to retire. The Des Moines Register reports that Gov. Kim Reynolds announced to a crowd of veterans at the state Capitol on Wednesday that Maj. Gen. Benjamin Corell will step down March 1. Corell has served as the Iowa National Guard’s adjutant general since August 2019. He’s a 37-year member of the Iowa National Guard. He enlisted in 1986 and was commissioned as an officer in 1989. He has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Romania and Kuwait. Corell said he wants to retire so he can spend more time with his wife and seven grandchildren.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A 24-year suspect in an Arizona homicide has been arrested in Iowa after a manhunt for nearly nine months. He’s been jailed in Iowa on $1 million bail while awaiting extradition to Tucson. Federal marshals tracked Trevontea Howard-Brown to a Charles City home about 150 miles northeast of Des Moines. Tucson police say he briefly barricaded himself inside before he was taken into custody Friday. He’s wanted on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in a Tucson shooting April 22 near the University of Arizona campus. He’s accused of killing a 24-year-old man and seriously injuring another.
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — More than 1,000 CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since last May have approved a new contract with the maker of tractors, bulldozers, backhoes and other heavy equipment. The United Auto Workers union said workers in Racine, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Iowa, approved the deal Saturday — two weeks after they rejected an earlier agreement. The union didn’t disclose any details of what is included in the new contract, and the company didn’t immediately respond Sunday to questions about the agreement. This strike was one of the longest in the spate of strikes over the past couple years since the pandemic began. Workers have been increasingly demanding and getting significant raises and better benefits amid the ongoing worker shortages.
