The crash scene. (State Patrol photo)
Two men from Florida who were wanted on multiple warrants from Iowa and elsewhere were arrested this morning after a chase in western Iowa that ended with them crashing.
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ryan Devault says the chase began at around 7:08 a-m on westbound Interstate 80 near mile marker 35 when a Trooper tried to stop a speeding 2022 Ford Explorer with Florida license plates. “Our trooper pursued that vehicle on Interstate 80, going westbound through Pottawattamie County, going towards the Council Bluffs, Omaha area at speeds of anywhere between 100 and 125 miles per hour. At approximately the 15 mile marker — another Trooper who was ahead of this pursuit was able to successfully deploy what we call stop sticks, which are a tire deflation device,” Devault says.
Stop sticks were used twice before the SUV went out of control on I-80 westbound at mile marker 7, and struck a 2013 GMC Terrain, driven by Donald Sorensen, of Portsmouth. “Two occupants out of that suspect vehicle bailed out of the vehicle on foot and a short foot pursuit entailed and both subjects were ultimately taken into custody,” Devault says.
The injured Sorensen was taken to the hospital in Council Bluffs for treatment of minor injuries. The two men arrested were identified as 26-year-old Victory Ogiste, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and 28-year-old Xavier Najee, from Plantation, Florida. Both men had outstanding warrants. Ogiste’s warrants were from Black Hawk and Hamilton Counties, in Iowa. Najee had warrants out of North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
They will face additional charges following the incident in Pottawattamie County. Traffic was backed up for at least three miles following the crash and investigation.
(By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)