3.21.2002

From the ABCNews Crimeblotter:

K E Y S T O N E, Iowa — Good Samaritans on Highway 30, look out!

Billy Lee pulled over after witnessing an accident in front of him on Iowa's Highway 30. After narrowly avoiding hitting a van involved in the collision, he jumped out to offer help.

As he assisted the woman who had been driving the van, Lt. Roger Brown of the Iowa State Patrol said, she told him, "I don't think I'd let him drive your car, he's drunk."

Lee looked up and saw the driver of the other car involved in the accident jump into Lee's Ford Escort and drive off.

The man in Lee's car, later identified by police as Brenton Roberts, headed north on Highway 30. He had been driving his father's car with an unidentified friend, whom he abandoned at the scene of the accident. He was apparently trying to get to the Meskwaki Settlement, an Indian territory where his father lived.

About 15 minutes after the first incident, Roberts got into a second accident, Brown said. When another good Samaritan stopped to help, Roberts asked him how to get to Meskwaki.

"He points him to the right direction and the next thing you know, he takes the guy's pickup," Brown said.

Officers including two local police chiefs chased Roberts — again on Highway 30 — into the Meskwaki Settlement.

There, Roberts allegedly tried to run over the Tama County Police chief, who shot out the tires of Roberts' vehicle. Roberts then surrendered, Brown said, to face multiple felony counts, including attempted murder.

"There were a lot of charges," Brown said.

Roberts was treated for minor injuries, as were several other people involved in the two accidents.

No comments: