Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a trail of blood led Council Bluffs police officers to a hit-and-run driver Friday morning. Officers responded to the 1100 block of Sixth Avenue shortly after midnight following reports of a vehicle striking a parked minivan.

According to police reports, a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse was westbound on Sixth Avenue when it struck a parked 2007 Hyundai Entourage, pushing it more than 10 feet. After striking the minivan, the Eclipse rolled onto its top. Witnesses told police they could hear the driver – later identified as a 24-year-old Council Bluffs man – cry for help. After assisting the man from the vehicle, witnesses tried to get him to sit down, but he said he would walk home.

Officers found blood at the scene and believed that the driver had a significant laceration. They notified area hospitals but also followed a blood trail that led to a nearby home. A resident there told officers her daughter had just left with “someone.” About the same time, Jennie Edmundson Hospital notified officers that a man matching the driver’s description had arrived at the hospital. The unidentified man was moved to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha with what was believed to be a non-life threatening head injury.