Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

AKRON, Iowa (AP) — New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is back in Iowa spending time with political activists who could prove helpful if the Republican runs for president in 2016. Christie headlined Governor Terry Branstad’s birthday bash last night.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Four people — including a toddler — have been rescued from the roof of a submerged car that rolled into a Des Moines pond. The Des Moines Register reports that the crash happened around 2:30 p.m. Friday while the people were out sightseeing. Police are unsure whether the driver forgot to put the vehicle in park or had taken her foot off the brake pedal. Rescue workers found a middle-aged woman, two teenagers and a 2-year-old child standing on top of the sunken vehicle.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Dubuque police and fire department officials say they are investigating two vehicle fires as arson. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that the fires were reported before dawn Friday in a parking lot. Dubuque Fire Marshal Mark Burkle says investigators have sent samples from the vehicles to a crime lab in Ames.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa football player Reggie Spearman has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, leading coach Kirk Ferentz to announce a minimum one-game suspension for the linebacker. Iowa City police sayt the 19-year-old was arrested just after midnight Friday on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Spearman was booked into jail around 1:30 a.m. yesterday and later released.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by a woman who said police used excessive force in her 2011 arrest. The Sioux City Journal reports that U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett dismissed the case Thursday, saying DaCosta Daniels did not prove that a Sioux City officer used unreasonable force during her arrest.

Patrol car video shows the officer struggling with Daniels as she was handcuffed Aug. 8, 2011, after a traffic stop after she refused to put her cellphone away. On the tape, she is shown being punched in the side and put in a headlock.

In 2012, Daniels was found guilty of assaulting a peace officer, interference with official acts and failure to obey a peace officer in the case.

Officials with the Iowa DNR report a man from Remsen was seriously injured on the first day of the pheasant hunting season, Saturday. 18-year old Ross A. Arens was crossing a creek and handing his shotgun to another member of his hunting party, when the gun discharged, striking him in the abdomen at around 8:45-a.m., in rural Plymouth County.

Arens was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City. A report on his condition was not immediately available.  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is still investigating the incident. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department assisted at the scene of the incident.