(Spencer)– No injuries were reported in a slow speed pursuit and a separate but related incident Sunday night in which the driver of another vehicle struck a patrol car and narrowly missed officers who were standing on the roadside.
It all started around 10:30 p.m. in Spencer when a police officer attempted to pull over a female driver for not wearing a seatbelt. She refused to stop, leading authorities on a pursuit ranging in speed from 10 mph to not quite the speed limit at times. The pursuit ended just south of Milford where stop sticks had been deployed. Authorities say Karen Gallahon of Spencer was charged with a seatbelt violation and failure to yield to emergency vehicles.
As authorities were investigating that incident, a northbound 1993 Cadillac travelled through the scene at what officers say was a high rate of speed. The driver, 42-year-old Frederick Davis of Des Moines, lost control of the vehicle, which entered the ditch, went back onto the road, slid sideways and collided with a Milford Police Department squad car. The vehicle then went back into the ditch and back onto the roadway, just missing several law enforcement officers.
Davis was charged with unsafe approach of certain stationary vehicles. No injuries were reported. Damage to the squad car was estimated at two thousand dollars; the Cadillac driven by Davis sustained an estimated three thousand dollars in damage.
Authorities say there were seven marked patrol cars at the scene that had their lights on and that cones had been placed on the highway for traffic control.
Officers from the Clay and Dickinson County Sheriff’s Offices, the Iowa State Patrol, Milford, Arnolds Park, Okoboji and Spirit Lake Police Departments were on the scene.
