A Union County man was arrested Monday afternoon on theft and other charges. 33-year old Jeremy Joseph Seddon, of Creston, was arrested at around 4:30-p.m. for Theft in the 3rd degree, Trespass, and Possession of Prescription Medication. He was later released from the Union County Jail on $2,000 bond.

And, the Creston Police Department reports Agrivision in Creston had a lawn mower stolen over an undetermined amount of time. The loss was estimated at $2,000.

A routine traffic stop early this (Tuesday) morning in Montgomery County resulted in a pursuit that finally ended about 20-miles away, in Mills County, and the arrest of a Nebraska man. Sheriff’s officials say a deputy tried to stop a 2008 Toyota Corolla at around 1-a.m., near the intersection of Highway 34 and Boxelder (or 3 miles east of Emerson), when the vehicle turned north onto Boxelder and continued for about three-quarters of a mile to a residential driveway.

As deputies approached the vehicle, it made a sharp u-turn and pulled back out onto Boxelder headed southbound. Deputies activate their lights and siren and initiated a pursuit, during which the Corolla failed to yield for the stop sign at the intersection of Highway 34. The car continued westbound on  Highway 34 at speeds of up to 112-mph, into Mills County.

Officers with the Glenwood Police Department successfully deployed stop-sticks at the intersection of Highways 34 and 275. The sticks punctured the car’s passenger side tires, resulting in the vehicle slowing to 40-mph. Deputies then used a “Rolling Road Block” to ease the car to a halt at Highway 34 and Kidd Road, in Mills County.

The driver, identified as 29-year old Ryan J. Lamere, of Omaha, and two passengers, were detained without further incident. Upon investigation, deputies learned the Lamere was knowingly in possession of a stolen vehicle, that he did not have a valid driver’s license, and he was in possession of drug paraphernalia. He faces felony charges of eluding and Theft in the 2nd Degree (for Possessing a stolen vehicle), and Simple misdemeanor charges of Reckless driving and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Lamere was also cited for speeding 110-mph in a 55 zone, failure to have insurance, failure to have a valid driver’s license and failure to obey a traffic control device.

Lamere was arrested and brought to the Montgomery County LEC (Law Enforcement Center), where he was being held in $5,000 bond. The passengers were released without charges. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted in handling incident, by officers with the Red Oak and Glenwood Police Departments, troopers with Iowa State Patrol and deputies from the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.

Motorists traveling into or out of Anita early this Tuesday morning on Highway 148, should be aware there are several cattle on the road or in the vicinity of the road, about 1.5-miles north of Anita. Law enforcement officials were trying to get ahold of the animals’ owners as of 4:45-a.m.

Thousands of Iowans had their identities put at risk with recent cyber attacks on J-P Morgan Chase, Home Depot and Target — and hackers are constantly trying to breach more computer servers. Doug Shade, with the A-A-R-P Fraud Watch Network, says scammers are also calling Iowans on the phone, trying to worm personal information, money or both out of you, by claiming to be from the county.

“They’re posing as being from the recorder’s office, saying, ‘How would you like a copy of your deed and property assessment?’ and for $83, they’ll give you a copy of the documents you can get for free if you went directly to the recorder’s office,” Shadel says, “or at least you could get them for the price of the copy.” Con artists are also posing as being from various Iowa utilities, calling and claiming you’ve missed a bill and need to pay up immediately or face having your power shut off. Shadel says the crooks are getting very sophisticated and can make it sound and appear like they’re legitimate.

“Caller ID doesn’t tell you where the person is calling from,” Shadel says. “It’s very easy to fake the Caller ID and have it show up as anything you want. So if somebody calls saying they’re from the police department or the IRS, hang up and call back directly to the local police and ask them and they’ll tell you if it’s a scam.” A recent survey found more than 21-percent of Americans don’t regularly shred documents that contain personal information, only 26-percent of people use distinctly different passwords on all of their online accounts, and only 40-percent of us use a locking mailbox.

“That’s a big problem because we’ve interviewed identity thieves who say the principal way they steal your identity is by stealing your mail,” Shadel says. “So, if 60% of Americans aren’t locking their mailbox, that makes it really easy for the identity thief.” About 20-percent of respondents admit they have left their wallet or purse in their locked car, which Shadel says is very dangerous. Also, he says 44-percent of those surveyed said they have not set up a passcode on their smart-phones. The organization’s free website enables Iowans to be alerted to scams that are surfacing in the region or in the state.

“What we’re trying to do with the Fraud Watch Network is to get people to sign up for these alerts no matter what age they are,” he says, “so they can see these malicious assaults coming from a distance.” The website also includes maps so people can get current details on what’s happening close to home. Nationwide last year, there was a new identity fraud victim every two seconds with total losses of around 18-billion dollars. Learn more at: www.aarp.org/FraudWatchNetwork

(Radio Iowa)