RURAL HAMILTON COUNTY – A Northern Iowa man driving his Chevy Cruz in a race car-like fashion fled from a drunk driving traffic stop and crashed, putting himself in a helicopter ambulance with serious injuries.
On Saturday, September 7, at 4:53 PM, Hamilton County Dispatch received a 911 call about a silver Chevrolet Cruze that was weaving in and out of traffic almost causing several accidents and traveling at a high rate of speed on Highway 20 at the 133 MM eastbound. Hamilton County deputies located the vehicle stopped on the shoulder at the 139 mile marker eastbound on Highway 20. Deputies made contact with the driver and were in the process of an operating while intoxicated investigation, when the driver of the vehicle left the scene of the traffic stop.
Hamilton County Deputies pursued the vehicle on Highway 20, then onto county blacktops south of Highway 20. During the pursuit the driver failed to stop at multiple stop signs and attempted to hit several vehicles head on during the pursuit, speeds during the pursuit were in excessive of 100 mph. The vehicle then lost control as it went off on to a gravel road and rolled at Stagecoach Road and Big Bear Road in Hamilton County. T
he driver of the vehicle was identified as 33-year-old Jared Ahrens of Kelley, Iowa. Ahrens was transported to Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City by Stratford Fire and Rescue for treatment of his injuries. Ahrens was then transported to a Des Moines Hospital by air ambulance for treatment of his injuries. Ahrens condition is unknown at this time.
This accident remains under investigation and charges are pending.
Assisting the Sheriff’s Office was Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement, Hamilton County Conservation, Stratford Fire and Rescue and the Iowa State Patrol.