FMPD chases two through city Thursday

LEE COUNTY – Two high speed chases that started in Fort Madison with law enforcement ended with two suspects being taken into custody on two separate incidents, one causing heavy damage to a Lee County Sheriff’s cruiser on Hwy. 218.
The first chase started in Fort Madison when a driver of a pickup truck with a faulty taillight fled after Fort Madison Police attempted to pull the vehicle over in the 3200 block of Avenue O at about 9 a.m.
According to FMPD reports, the motorist fled northbound on 31st Street to Avenue L and then west on Avenue L where he lost control and rolled over the northbound curb and came to stop in the parking lot of Amigos. The vehicle damaged a fence, two other vehicles in the parking lot, and a city street sign.
The suspect, Ronald Stegall of Fort Madison, had an active warrant for probation violation and will be charged with eluding and possession of methamphetamine. He suffered minor injuries in the rollover and was taken to Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center for treatment where he was expected to be released into custody and taken to Lee County Jail.
The second chase started around 12:40 p.m. on Bluff Road where an FMPD officer spotted a motorcycle traveling at a high rate of speed and tried to institute a stop. The motorcyclist, identified as Dalton Dempsey, 19, of Farmington, was headed eastbound at Chalk Ridge and Bluff Road and turned south on 26th Street where he cut through some yards between homes near Avenue D and got back on 28th Place. Then he headed north and took Avenue A to Bluff Road at speeds of up to 70 mph.
Fort Madison Police continued to chase Dempsey onto Hwy. 2 where Lee County Sheriff’s deputies and Iowa State Patrol officers took over the chase and followed Dempsey to 218/27 near Donnellson where he turned northbound. In the 1900 block of Hwy. 27, he tried to cut through the median and was pursued by Lee County deputies and an ISP officer.
In the maneuver across the median, the cyclist, whose name has yet to be released, struck the front end of a Lee County Chevrolet Tahoe and caused heavy damage to the cruiser and the motorcycle. No injuries were reported to have occurred to the suspect or the deputy in the cruiser. Dempsey was taken into custody without incident and was taken to Lee County Jail.
Dempsey is facing multiple charges of eluding, speeding, violating traffic control devices, and other charges from Lee County and the Iowa State Patrol.