Three arrested after high speed chase through Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - Three people were arrested after a chase in a stolen car Thursday night.

Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said patrol officers saw a 2005 Chevrolet Impala driving near Wilson Avenue and Sixth Street SW around 11:23 p.m. Thursday. Police initiated a traffic stop when it was determined the Impala did not have any license plates.

Police said the driver refused to stop and continued east on Wilson Avenue at speeds of 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. The driver continued to evade officers reaching speeds between 60 mph and 80 mph and running red lights and stop signs.

Buelow said police eventually deployed stop sticks as the suspect vehicle was going north on C Street, doing 55 mph in a 25 mph zone. Police were successful in flattening the left front tire of the Impala, but the suspects continued northbound on C Street.

Officers followed the vehicle as the driver continued his attempt to flee. Police said as the driver went through an alley behind New Bo, officers were able to confirm three people were in the Impala.

The chase continued and the left front tire shredded and the tread came off the vehicle in the area of 14th Street and Mount Vernon Road, Buelow said. The driver continued at 40 mph in a 30 mph zone.

Police were able to deploy stop sticks near the Mount Vernon Road Hy-Vee and flattened the right front tire of the Impala. The driver continued on until finally pulling over in the 5500 block of Mount Vernon Road SE. The Impala was determined to have been stolen out of Independence, Buelow said.

All three occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody. The driver, 25-year-old Andrew M. Simmons of Cedar Rapids, faces charges of second-degree theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, attempting to elude, driving while revoked, 14 counts of failure to obey a traffic control device, six counts of speeding, two counts of driving on the wrong side of a two way highway and failure to yield entering through street.

One of the passengers, 28-year-old Dustin O. Norton of Blairstown, was arrested on a warrant for a parole violation and possession of ammonia sulfate. The second passenger, 23-year-old Kaitlynn Ainesworth-Meyers of Cedar Rapids, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com