IC man caught after stealing car from convenience store
Hunter
6/21/19
An Iowa City man has been taken into custody after allegedly stealing a car from a downtown area convenience store.
Officers were called to the L&M Mighty Shop at 12:45am Friday for report of a 2016 Honda Accord that had just been stolen from the premises. Another officer on patrol spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it with lights and sirens activated.
The alleged suspect, 25-year-old James Jarrett of Iowa Avenue, instead accelerated away from the patrol car and turned down a secluded alleyway. He then fled on foot.
The pursuing officer caught Jarrett after a short foot chase. He was observed with bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech and smelled of ingested alcohol. He allegedly admitted to drinking and blew a .150 on a PBT. and took him into custody.
This is not the first time Jarrett has been been in trouble with the law; he pled guilty to 3rd degree burglary for a November 2011 incident, and has been charged with drug possession, public intoxication and criminal mischief in the past.
He’s charged with 2nd or subsequent 3rd degree burglary, a Class D felony punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years, and theft in the first degree, a class C felony carrying a maximum ten-year sentence. He’s also charged with eluding, public intoxication second offense and OWI, each serious misdemeanors