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Clarinda man wanted in SUV theft arrested on domestic abuse/theft charges

News

February 10th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports a Clarinda man was arrested Thursday night, on Domestic Abuse, drug and theft charges. 44-year old Alan Craig Gardner was taken into custody at around 8-p.m.  The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says they received a call that same evening from the Page County Sheriff’s Office, indicating a male matching the description of Gardner was in the Clarinda Hospital. He was wanted on warrants stemming from the chase that began with a vehicle stolen from Northwest Missouri. The February 2nd chase wound its way through southwest Iowa and ended north of Hamburg.

Gardner had been on the loose since he and 37-year-old Sean Christopher Schmidt of St. Joseph, MO abandoned the vehicle, which crashed into a levee and burst into flames. Schmidt was arrested after he was seen walking along the West Nishnabotna River levee, several hours after the crash,  and following an extensive manhunt.

Gardner was identified at the hospital by Clarinda Police as the second chase suspect, and was placed under arrest. He was picked up by Fremont County deputies and was being held in jail on $50,000 bond. He’s been charged in Fremont County with Conspiracy to Manufacture Methamphetamines, Possession of Precursor/Anhyrdous Ammona, Unauthorized transport of anhydrous ammonia, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Methamphetamine, and Theft in the Second Degree. He faces additional charges in Page County, of Domestic Abuse and Theft in the 2nd Degree. Bond on those charges was set at $10,000.