Man arrested after brief pursuit through northeast Cedar Rapids

A 63-year-old man was arrested Friday afternoon after he allegedly tried to lure high school students into his vehicle with the promise of money.

According to the Cedar Rapids Police Department, students at Kennedy High School notified the school resource officer that a suspicious man in a white Buick parked in the school’s south parking lot was approaching students and offering them money to get inside his vehicle.

Police said the officer went to the parking lot to speak with the man, but upon seeing the officer’s squad car, the suspect took off at a high rate of speed, exiting the parking lot and heading west on 42nd Street NE.

Police said the officer gave chase, following the suspect vehicle along 42nd Street NE and through several northeast side neighborhoods.

The chase ended when the suspect vehicle came to a dead end in the 2200 block of Shady Oaks Court NE.

The suspect, identified as Douglas Frederick Kay, age 63, was arrested for eluding, speeding, and two counts of failure to obey traffic control device and taken to the Linn County Correctional Center.

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Court records indicate Kay was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse in 1997 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Records also show a forgery conviction, a handful of misdemeanor theft charges and several OWIs.

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