Mason City man learns hard lesson after leaving his pickup truck running outside his apartment

MASON CITY – A Mason City man learned a hard lesson Sunday morning, after a local night stalker and career criminal allegedly stole his pickup truck that was left running and unattended outside his downtown apartment, leading to a calamitous chase and arrest.

Around 12:30 AM Sunday morning, January 25, 2026, a Mason City resident reported his truck was just stolen from the River II Apartments, located at 215 2nd Street SW. Police said that the truck, a 2019 Ford Ranger, was left running, unattended.

The theft was reported within 5 minutes of the incident.

Mason City police officers responded quickly, according to Chief Mike McKelvey and they located the vehicle near 5th Street SW and S Monroe Avenue. Officers tried to stop the truck as the truck accelerated from the area. The driver lost control – striking a median, light pole, drove through an empty parking lot before finally stopping in someone’s yard near 6th SW and S Adams Avenue.

Officers then performed a high-risk vehicle stop. T he driver, 38-year-old Kaleb Martinez Prestby (pictured at top), was soon taken into custody. Prestby complained of a leg injury from the crash. Mason City Fire Department medics transported Prestby to Mercy Hospital for evaluation. Officers also completed an OWI search warrant on Prestby at the hospital for a body specimen due to suspicion of impairment while Prestby drove the truck.

The truck was towed from the yard.

Prestby was deemed fit for jail and transported to the Cerro Gordo County Jail.

Prestby was charged with the following crimes:

• Theft of the vehicle

• Driving while Suspended

• Failure to Maintain Control

An OWI charge is pending the toxicology results of the body specimen collected, police said.

Prestby has a decorated criminal history, with arrests over the years on a range of felonies and other crimes, including criminal mischief, public intoxication, obstructing emergency communications, domestic abuse, probation violations, drug dealing and more.  He’s on probation now after a conviction for criminal mischief, and was originally placed in the hapless Beje Clark halfway house.