Arrest briefly halts traffic on Highway 218

AINSWORTH — Officers from the Washington County Sheriff’s office assisted Johnson County deputies Friday night in a vehicle pursuit by deploying stop sticks on Highway 218, according to an entry in the Washington County call for service log.

One driver in the area at the time said the effort halted all southbound traffic on the highway around 7:30 p.m. Aug. 5, about a mile from Exit 70, the off-ramp to 220th Street.

Two criminal complaints filed with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said police arrested 56-year-old Amy Summers, accusing her of driving under the influence and “eluding,” after she allegedly refused to pull over for an officer in Hills. Paperwork for those offenses was not posted on IowaCourtsOnline as of Monday morning, however.

“(The) defendant did not stop for audible siren and visual lights from multiple marked law enforcement vehicles,” said Johnson County Sgt. Reece Hoffman in an affidavit. “The defendant traveled for over 10 miles before stopping after stop sticks were deployed. The defendant had slurred speech, bloodshot watery eyes, the strong odor of alcohol.”

A criminal complaint that was filed in the Johnson County court system charges Summers with speeding, driving 79 mph in a 65 mph zone on the same date.

The affidavit said Summers refused a preliminary breath test, but performed poorly on standard field sobriety tests and had a datamaster test result of 0.085. State law holds that a driver is drunk if their blood alcohol level is .08 or more.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com