Crime dog sniffs out robbery suspect

      HILLS-The Washington K-9 unit located a bank robbery suspect in southern Johnson County, Friday afternoon, in tall corn, as many law enforcement personnel-including the Cedar Rapids Police helicopter team-took part in the manhunt.

      Casey Joe Booth, 31, of Iowa City, was arrested for first-degree robbery and is accused of holding up the Hills Bank office in downtown Iowa City, Friday morning. Booth was found about 30 feet from Sand Road in southern Johnson County, about 1.5 miles north of Highway 22, east of the Iowa River, after it was reported a bank robbery suspect was headed south from Iowa City.

      According to Iowa City Police, at about 11 a.m. on Friday, a lone white male entered Hills Bank and handed a teller a note demanding money. The man told the teller repeatedly that he was carrying a gun, though no weapon was ever displayed, no one was injured, and no gun was found on Booth when he was caught.

      Booth, who was identified by a photo taken from the bank's surveillance camera, allegedly left on foot with an undisclosed amount of money, and was later reported in a car that was southbound on Sand Road. When a detective in an unmarked Iowa City Police car located a car matching the description of the one given, it pulled over into a farm drive. The detective made contact with Booth, and after a brief struggle, Booth fled into the cornfield. Iowa City Police could not locate Booth in the six-foot corn.