Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After initially saying he acted in self-defense, police have charged an off-duty jail employee who brandished a handgun during a fight at a car show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The fair police announced that John McCormick is charged with assault while displaying a weapon, carrying a weapon under the influence and impersonating a peace officer. The charges came after witnesses said they were outraged that McCormick wasn’t arrested for the July 6 incident at the Good Guys car show.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man already in federal prison on gun convictions has been sentenced to another 20 years for trying to hire a hitman from behind bars to kill two northeastern Iowa people. Federal prosecutors say 45-year-old Jason Harriman was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Cedar Rapids. Prosecutors say Harriman began serving a 15-year federal sentence in 2011 on gun charges and made multiple phone and email contacts from prison with someone he thought was a hired killer.
FAIRFAX, Iowa (AP) — Linn County authorities identified a teen killed when a lawn mower he was operating overturned, pinning him beneath. Authorities say 17-year-old Alexander Wade Prochaska, of Cedar Rapids, died in the accident. First responders were sent around 8:20 p.m. Monday to a site about a 1 mile east of Fairfax. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says Prochaska was trapped under the mower, which had overturned while he was trying to mow a ditch.
WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — Police in Rhode Island have arrested an Iowa man they say intended to visit singer Taylor Swift’s beachfront mansion in the state and was carrying a backpack containing items commonly used in burglaries and a baseball bat. Westerly Chief Shawn Lacey tells The Sun of Westerly that 32-year-old David Page Liddle, of Des Moines, Iowa, was arrested Friday after residents reported a suspicious man at a boat yard near Swift’s home. Liddle was held on $10,000 bond at a court appearance Monday.