Records Released For Police Shooting and Accident
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa police shooting that paralyzed a black man in 2016 also threatened the life of the city’s deputy chief when the injured man’s speeding truck smashed into his patrol SUV.
Cedar Rapids has released police reports related to an incident in which Officer Lucas Jones struggled with and shot Jerime Mitchell, an unarmed black man who was pulled over in November 2016. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in April that the reports were public records.
They shed little new light on the shooting, which was captured on dash camera video made public in 2016. But they add new detail to what happened afterward.
Authorities had said that after he was shot, Mitchell was paralyzed and unable to control his truck as it struck a police SUV whose driver was extricated.
The records reveal that the SUV’s occupant was Deputy Cedar Rapids Police Chief Thomas Jonker, who was responding to Jones’ call for backup.
Mitchell’s truck was traveling 60 miles per hour when it smashed into Jonker’s driver’s side, trapping him inside. Jonker reported pain to his neck, jaw and knee and chipped teeth but returned to work days later.
Woman Arrested For Hit-And-Run Fatal Accident
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police say a 23-year-old Des Moines woman has been arrested for a fatal hit-and-run crash.
The crash happened just before 3 a.m. Thursday at a Des Moines
intersection when a sport utility vehicle and car collided. Police say the driver of the car, 19-year-old Kevin Troung, of Des Moines, was rushed to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. The driver of the SUV, which police say was speeding and ran a red light to cause the crash, fled the scene before first responders arrived.
Police announced an arrest in the case Thursday night, saying Alexandria Mae Newton has been charged with homicide by reckless driving, having no insurance, driving while her license was suspended and other counts. She is being held in the Polk County Jail.
Muscatine Man Loses Hand From Fireworks Injury
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) – Officials in eastern Iowa say a man has lost his hand in a fireworks mishap that also seriously injured two others.
The city of Muscatine says in a news release that one of the three men lit a mortar while holding it in his hand and attempted to throw it, but it exploded before he could. Firefighters say the man lost his hand in the explosion, while a second man suffered injuries to his face, eyes and ears. The third man lost several fingers.
Two of the men were taken by ambulance to a hospital. The other drove himself to the hospital. All three were later taken to an Iowa City hospital and are expected to survive their injuries.
Assistant Fire Chief Michael Hartman says it’s the city’s most serious fireworks incident since the state legalized fireworks two years ago.
