(Fremont Co) The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office released information on a pursuit that ended in a crash Sunday morning.
On Sunday, November 17, at approximately 6:12 a.m., the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a woman at Grape Community Hospital, in Hamburg, Iowa, who had experienced a domestic assault. The Iowa State Patrol was requested to assist with the call.
The woman reported that she and her 1-year-old child had been kidnapped in Nebraska by a male acquaintance. He fled Nebraska law enforcement into Iowa. The man dropped her off at the hospital but fled with the child in a 2023 Kia Sorento. She also reported the man was suicidal and homicidal.
Fremont County deputies were informed that the Iowa State Patrol was pursuing the vehicle near the intersection of Highway 2 and Interstate 29 (Exit 10).
Deputies attempted to intercept the pursuit near Hamburg and began traveling northbound on Interstate 29 from Exit 1. They located the vehicle near the 5-mile marker, where it was being pursued by Iowa State Patrol troopers. The suspect vehicle was traveling southbound in the northbound left lane at a high rate of speed, while troopers followed in the southbound lanes.
The vehicle attempted to strike both Fremont County deputies. One deputy, a nine-year law enforcement veteran, pursued the suspect vehicle in the northbound lanes starting at mile marker 5, with emergency lights activated. Other law enforcement continued the pursuit in the southbound lanes.
Missouri authorities were notified as the pursuit crossed into Missouri.
Upon reaching the 123-mile marker of Interstate 29 in Missouri, The Kia Sorento collided with a 2013 Ford Focus traveling northbound in the left lane, as the Ford was passing a 2024 Volvo semi-truck. The Volvo swerved to avoid the crash but struck a 2023 Chevy Tahoe patrol vehicle driven by a Fremont County deputy, who was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes.
The Kia came to a stop on the northbound Nishnabotna River Bridge, fully engulfed in flames. The Ford Focus came to rest in the median, as did both the patrol vehicle and the semi-truck.
A Fremont County deputy, a 39-year law enforcement veteran, rescued the 1-year-old child from the burning vehicle. The child was airlifted to a hospital in Omaha with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Fremont County deputy struck by the semi was treated and released from a local hospital.
The Missouri State Patrol is investigating the collision.
The investigation is ongoing at this time.
