North Liberty man arrested after wrong-way drunken drive on Highway 218

IOWA CITY - A North Liberty man is accused of driving drunk the wrong way up Highway 218 and avoiding police who were trying to stop him.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, officers were called to Highway 218 at 12:50 a.m. Monday morning for a report of a man driving northbound in the southbound lanes. Responding officers encountered 42-year-old Steven D. Emmert near the 88 mile marker, still traveling northbound in the southbound lanes.

Police said an officer activated his emergency lights and drove partially into Emmert's lane in an effort to get him to stop, but Emmert drove around the squad car. The officer said Emmert did not slow down when passing the squad car.

Emmert was forced to stop when an officer parked directly in his path. Police said their portion of the pursuit lasted only a short distance, but Emmert 'demonstrated absolutely no intent to stop” as evidenced by driving around the squad car and maintaining a speed of 40 to 45 mph.

Police said when Emmert got out of his vehicle, he didn't put it in park and it rolled into another squad car. Emmert had a 'dazed appearance,” smelled strongly of alcohol and admitted to drinking too much to drive, police said. Testing at the Iowa City Police Department indicated Emmert had a blood alcohol content of .236 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent to drive a vehicle in Iowa.

Emmert was arrested and faces charges of drunken driving, eluding and interference with official acts.