The trooper involved in the car chase that also involved the governor will not face workplace sanctions.
Late this afternoon the Iowa Department of Public Safety issued a statement, saying the agency’s “professional standards bureau” had completed its investigation of the incident and had decided Trooper Michael Clyde had not violated any “departmental policies” in the episode.
It happened last Sunday as the trooper was driving the state-leased S.U.V. that carries the governor. Governor Culver and his son were in the vehicle when something happened on a busy city street in Des Moines. The driver of another vehicle says the trooper nearly hit his car. The trooper says the other man was driving erratically. The only part of the story that everyone agrees on is that the man’s wife flipped off the trooper.
The trooper flipped on the flashing lights in the S.U.V., but the other driver says he thought he was being followed by a crazy person who might have a gun. The man didn’t pull over until he saw West Des Moines Police squad cars join the chase.
The man filed a complaint about the trooper’s actions and has demanded an apology from the governor. He hasn’t gotten one yet. Late this afternoon, Culver issued a written statement, suggesting the matter had been “reviewed and resolved.”
The chief of the Iowa State Patrol issued a brief statement, too, saying his troopers take the “security of the Governor and the First Family very seriously.” He added there’ll be a review of the procedures for the First Family’s “Executive Protection Unit.”