HIGH SPEED CHASE IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY
A Spirit Lake man led seven law enforcement agencies on a motor vehicle pursuit through Plymouth County last night.
The Plymouth County Sheriffs Office says a deputy tried to stop a motor vehicle near Merrill, due to traffic violations. The suspect, 34 year old Geoffrey Oolman, ignored the deputy’s lights and siren and sped away.
The pursuit entered Le Mars, drawing Le Mars police into the chase. Oolman continued driving north and east on a number of county and state roads, at speeds exceeding 95 miles per hour. The vehicle entered a level B road near Quest Ave. and 140th, and eventually got stuck in the mud. The driver then fled on foot. Numerous law enforcement agencies came to the scene and set up a perimeter around the suspect’s location. Authorities searched for 90 minutes, then brought in a drone form the O’Brien County Sheriffs Office. The drone operator found Oolman laying down in an field. Two Plymouth County deputies, and a K9 from Le Mars police apprehended Oolman, and he was transported to the Plymouth County Jail. Oolman was charged with offenses, including speeding, OWI, felony eluding, felony possession of a controlled substance, two other misdemeanor drug counts, and driving while barred.
The Plymouth County Sheriffs Office was assisted by Police Departments from Le Mars, Remsen, Orange City, and Cherokee, and the Sioux and O’Brien County Sheriffs Office.
NAIG FARM BILL
Work toward completion of a new farm bill continues on at a slow pace.
Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says delays in passing a federal budget are taking the focus off the farm bill.
Sec. Naig wants to make sure that lawmakers are thorough in crafting a new farm bill.
Naig says it could be toward the end of the year before a new farm bill is completed.
Congress has approved a resolution to continue the previous farm bill another year, while a new bill is drafted.
JUDGE DENIES DISMISSING CHARGE AGAINST HARMS
A Plymouth County District Court judge has denied a request by the attorney for Reese Harms to drop one of the charges against him. Harms is charged with Murder in the Second Degree and Attempted Murder. The charges stem from an incident in January at a Le Mars apartment, where Harms is accused of causing injury to a Merrill man, which later resulted in his death. Harms attorney argues that the defendant cannot be convicted of both attempted murder and murder in the second degree for the same act. Assistant Plymouth County attorney Jason Bring argued that the defendant could be convicted of attempted murder, but not second degree murder. Based on the state’s argument, Judge Deck ordered that the motion to dismiss the second charge is denied. A pre-trial hearing for Harms was held this week. No trial date has been set.
TWO ADMINISTRATORS AT HINTON HIGH SCHOOL RESIGN
A western Iowa school district at the center of an assault investigation involving its high school wrestling team is losing two administrators. The Hinton School Board accepted the resignations last night of middle and high school principal Phil Goetstouwers and athletic director Brian DeJong, who is also an elementary school principal. No reasons were given for the resignations that are effective at the end of the school year. The Coralville Police Department launched an investigation after wrestlers said older teammates tasered them at a hotel during a wrestling tournament last month. A video circulating on social media showed a wrestler being held down on a bed during the attack. A police spokesperson says additional information will likely not be released because all involved are juveniles. Hinton’s head wrestling coach is still on administrative leave. Parents say he is being allowed to teach math.
LE MARS STREET CLOSURE
The Le Mars Street Dept. has given the okay for Well’s South Ice Cream Plant to shut down part 18th St. S.W. between 6th Ave. S.W. and 12th Ave. S.W. today, Thursday March 7th , 2023, between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. They will be installing another new crane rail in the freezer which requires them to pull it out of the freezer and across 18th St. S.W. . There will be detour signs set up during the hours listed .
SPIRIT LAKE MAN’S MURDER CONVICTION UPHELD
The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the life sentence of a Dickinson County man in the shooting death of women outside a Milford medical staffing office in 2022. Christian Goyne-Yarns of Sprit Lake was found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Shelby Woizeschke in the parking lot of her workplace. Woizeschke was the mother of his two children, but they were separated. Goyne-Yarns appealed, saying there was not enough evidence to support his conviction or to show he planned the shooting ahead of time. The Court of Appeals ruling says there was some evidence missing from the case, including the gun, but Woizeschke’s 9-1-1 call identifying Goyne-Yarns as the shooter and corroborating surveillance video was substantial evidence to uphold the conviction.
IOWA SENATE PASSES IMMIGRATION BILL
The Iowa Senate passed a bill along party lines that would authorize law enforcement in the state to arrest immigrants who are here illegally and empower Iowa judges to order deportations. Under the bill it would become a state crime for a person to enter the state if they were already deported or refused entry into the U-S. Republican Senator Jeff Reichman, of Montrose, says the state must step in because the Biden administration has allowed record numbers of illegal border crossings. Democrats opposed the bill. They say immigration is a federal issue and it would be unconstitutional for the state to get involved with arresting and removing people from the country.
MANDATORY PARENTAL CONSENT FOR MINORS’ SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ACCESS
The Iowa House has voted to require teenagers to have a parent’s permission to use social media accounts. If the bill becomes law, social media companies must give a parent access to their minor child’s Instagram, SnapChat or other accounts and the ability to shut down those accounts. Federal law currently prohibits anyone under the age of 13 from having their own social media account. Bill backers say teenagers face harassment and other dangers online and their parents need to be able to know about and supervise what their kids are doing on Instagram, SnapChat and other social media platforms.
