Man shot by Onawa cop believed to have been drunk

Authorities suspect a Sioux City man who was shot to death this weekend by an Onawa policeman had been drinking, but complete autopsy results aren’t yet available. Twenty-two-year-old Francisco Ponce was shot early Saturday morning along Interstate 29, near the Missouri Valley exit. Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation special agent Bob Henderson says Ponce had been clocked going over 100 miles an hour on I-29. A Missouri Valley cop and a Harrison County deputy put out stop sticks, which flattened the tires of Ponce’s vehicle. Henderson says Ponce crossed from the southbound to the northbound lanes of I-29 and stopped his car at a rest area. Henderson says Ponce got out of his vehicle and made a threatening move toward Onawa policeman James Fouts. Fouts fired one round from his 12-guage shotgun, and hit Ponce in the chest. Henderson says the autopsy confirms the shot killed Ponce, but toxicology results will come later. Henderson says authorities “have reason to believe” Ponce had been drinking, but won’t to what extent until the autopsy’s complete. Henderson says officer Fouts has been automatically placed on paid leave while officials review the incident. Fouts, who is 34 years old, has been a policeman for almost a decade and has worked for the Onawa police department for the past four years.