Authorities in southwest Iowa are now releasing details of a weekend chase where a suspect on a motorcycle topped speeds of 140-miles an hour. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says the motorcyclists happened upon a deputy just after midnight on Saturday on Highway 92.
“He was coming up on the deputy in a hurry from behind,” Danker says. “They clocked him at 78 in a 50 (mile an hour zone) and the deputy slowed down, the motorcycle passed him, he tried to stop him and he took off at a high rate of speed.” Danker says the cycle exceeded 140-miles per hour at times and didn’t slow down much, even when passing through a few small towns.
“The motorcycle would periodically slow down and then speed up,” the sheriff says. “It went through Treynor at about 120 and went through Carson at 135, and continued at speeds greater than 130.” Danker says the results of the cycle passing through towns at those speeds could have been disastrous.
“I can’t imagine blowing through these towns at 120 or 135 miles an hour,” he says. “It’s late at night but you’re not expecting somebody to come through at I don’t know how many times the speed limit there. If somebody would pull out in front of him, they’d be toast.”
The motorcycle eventually crashed on a gravel road. The suspect is identified as 27-year old Richard Killough of Council Bluffs. He faces numerous citations including eluding. Killough posted a $2,000 bond Saturday and was released.
A Mills County sheriff’s deputy who tried to help in the pursuit was injured when the car he was driving enroute to the chase hit a deer and crashed in a ditch. Thirty-one-year old Deputy Joshua England, of Glenwood, was transported by Glenwood Rescue to Mercy Hospital for treatment of his injuries.
By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic