Driver who hit Iowa City, North Liberty squad cars admitted to using meth

NORTH LIBERTY - A Woolstock man was using meth sometime before he hit two squad cars on Highway 218 on Monday.

According to an Iowa City police complaint, 51-year-old Brent A. Chapman admitted to ingesting methamphetamine after he was taken into custody for sideswiping an Iowa City police cruiser and driving into a North Liberty police patrol car. Chapman's toxicology results are pending, police said.

According to police, an Iowa City officer was conducting an unrelated traffic stop on Highway 218 northbound near Melrose Avenue at 4:09 a.m. Monday when they were sideswiped by Chapman's 2009 Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Police said Chapman didn't stop after the collision. When police attempted to pull Chapman over, he instead sped up to approximately 100 mph, prompting officers to terminate the chase.

Iowa City police asked North Liberty police to deploy stop sticks on the highway.

Police said when Chapman passed North Liberty at the 4 mile marker, he drove directly into the North Liberty squad car that had been dispatched to deploy the stop sticks. Chapman was driving at a high rate of speed. The criminal complaint does not specify whether Chapman intentionally hit either of the squad cars.

Chapman was initially taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for unspecified, non-life threatening injuries. According to the criminal complaint, Chapman displayed 'drug impairment indicators” and admitted to ingesting meth.

According to Johnson County Jail records, Chapman was booked at the jail around 4 p.m. Tuesday. So far, he faces one count of eluding, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Iowa City Police Sgt. Scott Gaarde said additional charges are pending.

Online court records show that Chapman pleaded guilty to controlled substance violation and possession of pseudoephedrine - a meth-making ingredient - in Polk County in 2008. He received a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to a residential treatment facility.