A long-time state agent who was recently suspended from his job had reported a vehicle that turned out to be the governor’s was speeding just before his suspension.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety has released recordings to The Des Moines Register showing DCI agent Larry Hedland phoned the Iowa State Patrol April 26 to report a black S-U-V was speeding just east of Interstate 35 on Highway 20.
Troopers clocked the vehicle going 84 miles an hour. After a trooper got close to the SUV and saw that it was the governor’s vehicle, the SUV was not pulled over. State troopers are assigned to drive the governor and lieutenant governor. The governor’s spokesman confirms Governor Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Reynolds were riding in the SUV at the time of the incident.
The DCI agent who reported the speeding was suspended from duties on May 1 — just five days after the incident. He’s a 25-year veteran of the agency who has been a supervisor in northern Iowa since 2010. Hedland’s attorney recently told Radio Iowa his client had been suspended for “being insubordinate” and for “minor administrative violations.” The attorney has not responded to Radio Iowa phone calls today.
Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for the governor, wrote in an email that Branstad has “great faith and trust in Iowa’s law enforcement officials to ensure the safety of the governor and all Iowans.” A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety told Radio Iowa he would only respond to written questions about the incident and will not release the video to Radio Iowa until 4:30 p.m.
The posted speed limit for Highway 20 is 65 miles per hour in the area where the incident happened. The trooper driving the governor who got caught speeding will be the subject of “a confidential personnel investigation,” according to Lieutenant Robert Hansen of the Iowa Department of Public Safety.