Authorities in Iowa and Nebraska are searching for a man who crashed a stolen car this morning and escaped on foot — after biting an Iowa law officer. Iowa State Trooper Tim Sieleman says he was in pursuit of the driver on westbound Interstate-80 in Council Bluffs, when the fleeing suspect headed into Omaha and lost control of the car on an exit ramp.
Sieleman says: "No other vehicles were damaged. No public was injured. No damage to the state vehicle. The only damage was done to the stolen vehicle." He says the run-away driver crashed because he was simply going too fast for the slick pavement.
"He just lost control getting off the bridge with the early-morning conditions and lack of experience of driving at 60 miles an hour on an off-ramp. Not good for 45," the trooper explains. Sieleman says the driver ended up bouncing off the concrete sides of the ramp before coming to a stop. He says he then tried to pull the driver out of the car but the suspect bit him on the hand and then took off running.
He says: "As I tried to keep him from jumping over the wall, he did bite me on the hand at that time, at which time I released him and let him fall to the ground." The search for the suspect continues, though his name hasn’t been released. A woman inside the vehicle was injured and taken to a hospital for treatment. She then was arrested on several outstanding warrants.