Lang
4/4/20
A police chase on Interstate 80 ended in a field Friday afternoon.
According to arrest records, an Iowa State Patrol trooper was conducting stationary patrol just west of the Tiffin exit at 2:10pm when he was passed by a speeding pickup truck. The truck was clocked doing 90 miles per hour in a 70 mile per hour zone.
The truck failed to yield to the trooper’s lights and sirens, and continued fleeing at up to 95 miles per hour through a 55 mile per hour zone. It drove on the outside shoulder and made several bad passes.
The truck eventually slowed down near mile marker 251, between the Rochester Avenue and West Branch exits, and pulled into a field. Cedar County deputies eventually stopped the truck using vehicle intervention techniques.
The driver and lone occupant, 20-year-old Robert Townsend of North English, was arrested and charged with Eluding at Speeds Over 25 Miles Per Hour Over the Posted Limit, Driving While Barred, and numerous other traffic charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum of four years in prison.