Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a Nebraska man was arrested Tuesday morning on numerous charges in the northwestern part of the County, following a manhunt. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Dwayne Riche told KJAN News 28-year old Louis Enrique Cruz-Guzman, of Bellevue, NE, was taken into custody at around 11:37-a.m. after being flushed out of an embankment near a creek by a Pott. County K-9 unit about 6-miles north-northeast of Council Bluffs. Sgt. Riche says the incident began when authorities received word at around 7:50-a.m., that a man matching Cruz-Guzman’s description was on the property of the Hazel-Dell Township Cemetery at about 250^th and Juniper Road. At around 10:15-a.m., deputies were called to L-34 and Badger Avenue for a report the same subject was walking toward Weston Avenue. 

A property owner in the area, Brian Driver, saw Cruz-Guzman walking on his property carrying a claw hammer Driver believed came from a shed or outbuilding on his property.  When Driver confronted the man and said he was going to call the Sheriff’s Office, Cruz-Guzman took off on foot through a corn field headed toward a wooded creek line. Moments later, Phil Cock, who was on an ATV fixing fences, saw the suspect running toward the creek in the vicinity of Juniper Road and L-34. 

A deputy who responded to the scene hopped on the ATV with Cock and together the men began a search for Cruz-Guzman. At that same time, authorities received another report the same man allegedly stole a bicycle from a female residents’ backyard, and was trying to get away. The suspect abandoned the bike and once again took off on foot. Numerous agencies responded to conduct a search for the man, including the Iowa State Patrol and a Pott. County K-9 unit.  Area schools were notified about the incident and placed on “lock-down,” as a security measure. As the K-9 “Francisco,” and his handler, Deputy Brian Miller, began walking the creek line, the suspect heard the team approaching and surrendered to the State Patrol near the 14.5-mile marker of Interstate 80. Cruz-Guzman was wearing only his boxer shorts, as his shoes, pants and shirt were frozen and discarded in the water. 

Cruz-Guzman was arrested on a warrant out of Boone County, Iowa, for Probation Revocation and Possession of Marijuana with the Intent to Deliver. He was also charged in Pottawattamie County, with Burglary in the 3^rd Degree…2 counts of Trespassing…Interference with Official Acts and Theft in the 5^th Degree. He was being held this (Wednesday) morning in the Pott. County Jail on $10,000 bond.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Please note the time of Boswell’s visit is 11-a.m. Friday, not 10:45-a.m. as previously mentioned)

Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell will be in Atlantic this Friday, to hold one of several public “Listening Posts on Agriculture.” The session are being held as Boswell, a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, makes preparations to craft the next farm bill with his colleagues in Congress. On his website, Boswell says he wants to hear from “Farmers, producers, and rural business owners in Iowa about what is working for them in the current farm bill and what they would like to see done differently in the next one.”  Boswell’s visit to Atlantic takes place 11:-a.m. Friday, at the Atlantic Public Library.

The listening posts are also part of the Congressman’s “Spirit of Iowa” tour that focuses on how Iowans are partnering with the federal government to rebuild and reinvigorate local economies.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says crops could end up rotting in the fields because of a lack of labor due to the nation’s immigration problems. Speaking before a farm group in Omaha, Vilsack says the elected leaders in Washington understand illegal immigration is a problem, but nobody wants to put aside politics and address it. “Everybody in this country knows that this immigration system is broken, everybody in this country,” Vilsack says, “every member of Congress, all 530 members of the House, all 100 members of the Senate, they know the immigration system is broken, but yet nothing happens.” Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, says politicians are too eager to use the issue as a partisan tool rather than try to find a resolution.

“Everybody knows it’s a problem,” Vilsack says. “Where are the statesmen? Where are the people that are willing to put the national interests ahead of all else?” Vilsack, the head of the U-S-D-A, says the immigration issue may very soon begin to have a significant impact on agriculture.  “Here’s the risk to farming,” he says. “We’re getting to a point where crops may rot because we simply don’t have the people in the fields to do the work that needs to be done.” Vilsack insists the problem can be resolved. “The solution is not the issue here,” Vilsack says. “The problem is, people want to play politics with this issue. They want to go into your communities and they want to scare people about immigrants. They want to divide the nation over this issue because they think there’s political advantage.” Vilsack made his comments Monday to delegates to the National Farmers Union convention.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)