Linn County deputy faces long-term injuries after being shot during Coggon robbery

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Linn County sheriff’s deputy was in intense pain and couldn’t feel his left leg after being shot seven times and falling face-first onto the floor at the Casey’s store in Coggon, he testified Monday, as colleagues rushed to help him.

Deputy William Halverson said he didn’t recall a lot of police radio traffic as other deputies were responding to a robbery and shooting June 20, 2021. But he recalled hearing Deputy Matt Oltmann, although he couldn’t communicate much to him.

A body camera video shows Oltmann frantically yelling outside the store, asking, “Where is he? Where is he? Will. Will. Will,” before he saw Halverson inside the store.

Halverson said Oltmann began checking for wounds and applied a tourniquet to his left lower thigh before paramedics arrived. Halverson, in the video, cries out in pain as Oltmann applies the tourniquet, and he continues to wail and groan as Oltmann attempts to assess the wounds.

Halverson on Monday continued his testimony from Friday during the attempted murder trial of Stanley Donahue, who is accused of shooting Halverson during the 2021 robbery. The deputy Friday identified Donahue as the man who shot him, testifying he thought Donahue was going to kill him.

Donahue, 38, is charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, attempted murder of a peace officer, two counts of false imprisonment, willful injury, attempt to elude, disarming a peace officer, trafficking in stolen weapons and possession of a firearm as a felon.

The prosecution continues its case Tuesday. Closings are expected to be Friday.

Halverson, during Monday’s testimony, said his injuries from the seven shots included a broken left thigh bone, vertebrae and both hips, and damage to his lungs and torso.

He also had “contact“ injuries — bruising, abrasions — from bullets penetrating the protective vest he was wearing at the time.

Halverson, who became emotional during testimony, underwent a surgery to insert a rod for a broken thigh bone and screws inserted in his left knee. He couldn’t walk for about six months. Halverson admitted he rushed his recovery time because he wanted to get back to work, but broke a screw in his leg because he pushed himself too much.

It took about six or seven months to walk without a cane and 12 months to run again. He returned to work after January 2022 and was initially assigned to the jail, and then went back to patrol in March or April.

He will have long-term effects from his injuries, including lower back pain, arthritis and that his left leg is shorter than his right leg.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks asked him what injuries would he have suffered if he wasn’t wearing a protective vest. The shots that struck his vest would have injured his stomach, kidney, lung and liver if not for the vest, Halverson said.

Maybanks asked if he was sure the man who shot him that night was Donahue.

“I’m 100 percent sure,” Halverson said.

Halverson said he saw Donahue’s face when he first opened the door to the store that night and Donahue was standing near the front door and counter. The prosecution played that portion of the store surveillance video.

The deputy recalled seeing a “coldness” in Donahue’s eyes.

When Oltmann at the store that night, Halverson was face down just inside the front door. Oltmann saw blood on Halverson’s shirt and leg, but the deputy was conscious and breathing. He told Oltmann he had been shot in the left leg.

Oltmann applied a chest seal — a plastic adhesive bandage — to Halverson’s back contact wound, where his vest was struck with a bullet.

When paramedics arrived, Oltmann cleared the store to make sure nobody else was there. But he found two employees that authorities said Donahue had forced into the cooler. Oltmann also found shell casings and bullets at the scene.

In other testimony Monday, deputies told about their search and car pursuit of the suspect, who had fled before they arrived.

Deputy Heath Omar testified about seeing the suspect’s gray Dodge minivan without headlights after a search perimeter was set up around the store and surrounding area. The van matched the description given by Halverson and Oltmann.

Omar said he tried to cut off the van, but the suspect drove around him. The suspect didn’t have a passenger or anyone else with him, he said.

The van steered off the street and onto a grassy area and then continued north on Third Street in Coggon, running stop signs and eventually went around a road closed sign where concrete barriers were set up because a bridge was closed.

Omar said the suspect reached 60 to 70 mph — in a 25 mph zone — during the pursuit.

The van crashed into a concrete barrier and the suspect jumped out and ran. Omar testified he got out and pursued him, but eventually lost sight of him.

Omar said he called for an officer with a police dog and stayed at the location so the dog could start a track.

Omar said he saw the suspect’s clothing and his face — making eye contact with him before he fled after the crash. He testified the suspect was Donahue.

Deputy Derek Steines, a K-9 handler who brought his dog, Bingo, to track the suspect, testified Bingo alerted and detected an odor in a tall patch of grass near Aldridge Road. The grass had an indentation, consistent, he said, with a human lying down.

Bingo continued to track but then lost the scent beyond that area.

Steines was involved in the arrest of Donahue the next day, June 21, 2021. Authorities had a report that a man matching the suspect’s description was walking on Aldridge Road. Donahue was wearing black clothing, no shoes and. possibly, black socks, Steines said. His clothes were dirty — “like someone had come out of a field.”

In a police dashboard camera video, Donahue is seen face down on the road when officers give him commands and quickly approach him, with guns drawn.

Donahue was found with a large amount of cash, change and cigarettes, authorities said. Last Friday, witnesses testified he took $239 in cash, change, 89 packs of cigarettes and numerous car chargers.

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