In an update to our earlier report, Council Bluffs Police Friday afternoon identified a suspect who had fled from Police during a traffic stop Thursday night. Authorities say 57-year-old Jerry Dean Phipps, of Council Bluffs was charged with OWI 1st Offense, Eluding, Disobedience to Police Officer, Reckless Driving, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

(Original story w/name now added):

A traffic stop at around 9-p.m. Thursday in Council Bluffs resulted in a brief pursuit and the driver being taken into custody. Authorities say after an officer stopped a vehicle for a simple traffic violation, the officer suspected the driver – later identified as 57-year old Jerry Dean Phipps – to be intoxicated, and called for a back-up officer. Before the second officer could arrive, Phipps fled in the vehicle westbound on 2nd Avenue and hit “stop-sticks” that were deployed at 28th Street. The vehicle continued to elude officers, heading southbound on 28th St and eastbound on 9th Ave.

In the 1300 block of 9th Ave officers performed a P.I.T. maneuver on the vehicle, causing it to slide off the road into a business parking lot. When Phipps refused to exit the vehicle, a less than lethal bean-bag shotgun was deployed, and the vehicle window was shot out. A Police K-9 was on scene but Phipps became cooperative and exited the vehicle on his own power. He was taken into custody without further incident.

(Radio Iowa) — Officials in the Iowa Department of Public Safety want to analyze blood samples from drivers who die in SINGLE-VEHICLE accidents, to determine if drug or alcohol-use contributed to the crash. Chandlor Collins, a policy advisor in the agency, says Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan are already collecting this data.

“As more states continue to either legalize medical marijuana or recreational marijuana, just having the data regardless of where you fall on those issues is just going to allow for better decisions to be made,” Collins says. About 70 fatal wrecks in Iowa last year involved a single driver. Collins says blood samples in those instances are rarely, if ever, collected to determine if the driver was impaired because there’s no liability issue since no one else was injured or killed in the accident.

“Data out there is saying there’s more drug-impaired driving than I think a lot of us as lay citizens think that is currently is occurring,” Collins says. A senate subcommittee is working on a bill that would require county medical examiners to draw blood from drivers killed in a single-vehicle wreck. Senators say there are issues, like proper training, to address.

(Radio Iowa) — A spokesman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the backlog of applications from felons seeking restoration of their voting rights has been cleared. Reynolds announced earlier this month that she was working with her staff as well as staff in two state agencies to review dozens of applications. This past Tuesday, Reynolds had reviewed 300 and had another 100 to go.

“We are going to make it. We are going to get it done.” And this (Friday) afternoon, the governor’s spokesman announced all the pending applications had been reviewed. It means about 400 more Iowans now have the ability to participate in Monday night’s Caucuses. Iowa is now the only state that requires paroled felons to apply to the governor for restoration of their voting rights.

A year ago, Reynolds asked legislators to set the wheels in motion so Iowa’s constitution can be changed so voting rights are automatically restored. It’s part of what she calls her “second chance” agenda. Reynolds sometimes calls the people who’ve applied to have their voting rights restored and she’s talked publicly about those conversations.

“The stories continue to just be really inspiring,” Reynolds says. This past Tuesday, Reynolds told reporters she a young woman whose voting rights were restored this month sent her a thank you note after the two spoke by phone.  “It’s always kind of the same theme,” Reynolds said of the notes she gets from paroled felons who tell the governor they’re working hard to turn their lives around.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County today (Friday), arrested 26-year old Tyler Jacob Broadway, of Clarinda, on numerous Page County warrants. The warrants were for: Stalking; Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding the flow of air / blood; Theft 4th Degree; False Imprisonment, and three counts of Violation of No contact / protective orders.

Tyler Broadway

Broadway was being held in the Page County Jail without bond, pending future court proceedings.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Thursday, arrested a Council Bluffs man on three Page County warrants. 31-year old Nathan Andrew Wilcoxson was taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on warrants of Violation of Probation.

Wilcoxson was transported to the Page County Jail where he was being held on $45,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A top Iowa law enforcement official has resigned after an unexplained 3 1/2-month paid leave that coincided with a state human resources investigation. A state lawyer says assistant Division of Criminal Investigation director Terry Cowman resigned and left the state’s employment on Monday after a 25-year career in public safety. Cowman and a subordinate were removed from duty in October, shortly after an annual training conference for police officers that they helped host. State officials have refused to explain why.

Department of Public Safety lawyer Catherine Lucas says Cowman resigned voluntarily and not because he otherwise would have been fired.

A traffic stop on Interstate 29 north of the Glenwood exit, in Mills County early this (Friday) morning, resulted in the arrest of a man from Nebraska. 32-year old Brandon Edward Olson, of Columbus, NE., faces charges that include: OWI/2nd offense; Possession of Controlled Substance; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Open Container. His bond in the Mills County Jail was set at $3,000.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the water body billed as the state’s “largest private lake” isn’t really private. Jeffrey Meyers was stopped in July of 2018 by conservation officers patrolling Lake Panorama after they notice he was illegally displaying blue lights on his pontoon boat. The officers determined Meyers was drunk and charged him with boating while intoxicated.

Meyers claimed the officers did not have jurisdiction because Lake Panorama near Panora is the state’s largest private lake. Signs around the lake make that claim The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the northwest side of the lake is accessible via the Middle Raccoon River — and that means the lake is not private. They upheld the charge against him.

(Read the full IASUPCO Opinion here: (https://www.iowacourts.gov/courtcases/7953/embed/SupremeCourtOpinion)

BROOKLYN, Iowa (AP) – Regulators are proposing a nearly $13 million fine against a podcaster accused of hiding the origin of automated phone calls that used the slaying of an Iowa college student to promote white nationalist messages. The Federal Communications Commission says Scott Rhodes violated the Truth in Caller ID Act, which bars the manipulation of caller ID information.

Officials say Rhodes used an autodialer to make hundreds of recorded calls to Brooklyn, Iowa, numbers, citing the killing of Mollie Tibbetts. The Mexican man charged in her death is suspected of living in the U.S. illegally.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Des Moines police say a suspect was shot early Friday morning while struggling with officers trying to take him into custody. Officers were sent around 6:20 a.m. to check a report about a domestic dispute involving a threat. Police say that when the two officers tried to arrest a man at the scene, he attacked them and wouldn’t give up. One of the officers shot the man in an arm, but he wouldn’t let medics fully assess his injuries. A wound in his torso was discovered at a hospital. He’s been listed in serious condition. The names of those involved haven’t been released.