Sweet Reward For Police After 100 mph Chase for Doughnut Truck

[Kor37 9]

Sweet rewards for police after 100 mph chase for Illinois doughnut shop's stolen delivery van

AP

Posted: 2008-03-21 14:53:46

TOLEDO, Iowa (AP) - A bevy of officers chased a doughnut delivery van at speeds up to 100 mph (161 kph) before arresting the driver at gunpoint, authorities said.

 

But the cops were not simply hankering for doughnuts.

 

The van, owned by Donut Delite of Moline, Illinois, was stolen early Thursday while the driver was making deliveries at a local hospital. The driver had left the van running, and a man jumped in and headed for Iowa, just over the Mississippi River.

 

A Benton County, Iowa, sheriff's deputy spotted the van later in the morning, and eight other officers eventually joined the chase. Authorities finally cornered it in neighboring Tama County.

 

Frank Alvarado, 46, of Moline, Illinois, was charged with theft and other counts and was held on $15,000 (euro9,726) bond.

 

Security video showed Alvarado milling about before driving off in the van, but he was not listed as a patient, said officials at Trinity Medical Hospital-West in Rock Island. A jail official said he was assigned a public defender, whose name was not immediately available.

 

Tama County Sheriff Dennis Kucera said his officers had no idea what the unmarked van was carrying.

 

They were rewarded for their efforts anyway - the doughnut shop gave them the purloined goodies.

 

Something tells me that nothing on Earth would have prevented those policeman from getting their hands on those doughnuts.......

[TJ Phaserman 2]

except traffic on I-94 lol

[trekz 7]

OMG! Moline is my birthplace and the hometown of my mother's side of the family. Looking at the map I'm guessing this guy crossed the Mississippi into Davenport and probably took off on Rt 61. I'd like to know why he headed into Iowa? And how he thought he'd get away with this heist. Instead, he's in a sticky situation and a hole lot of trouble.

[trekz 7]

More Donut van details: He went to Kewanee (Pork Capitol of the World) to steal gas first!

 

Stolen Donut Delite truck draws out Iowa police in force

March 20, 2008; 9:55 p.m.

Print date: 03/21/2008

 

By Brian Krans, bkrans@qconline.com

 

A squadron of police cars chasing down a doughnut van surely would draw some snickers.

 

Even hearing about it made Rock Island police Capt. Scott Harris chuckle a bit.

 

"I can't imagine what that must have looked like," he said.

 

A stolen van belonging to a Moline doughnut shop made an illegal bi-state journey Thursday, ending in a police chase in central Iowa.

 

The driver of a Donut Delite delivery van left it running as he made a delivery at Trinity Medical Center, West Campus, in Rock Island around 5 a.m.

 

After delivering the fresh-baked deliciousness, driver was glazed and confused because the van was gone. He immediately called police, who put the van's description and license plate on the hot sheet so every officer would be on the look-out.

 

The same van was spotted hours later at a gas drive-off some 50 miles away in Kewanee, Ill., Capt. Harris said.

 

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, a Benton County, Iowa, sheriff's deputy spotted the van driving west on U.S. 30 around 9 a.m., discovered it had been stolen and started following it.

 

Two other deputies and a Belle Plaine police officer joined the pursuit and notified Tama County law-enforcement authorities that they were headed in their direction. Five Tama County officers joined the chase, according to the Gazette.

 

The van's driver ignored signals to stop, police told the Gazette, heading west for nearly 7 miles at speeds topping 100 mph and driving around a set of stop spikes spread across the highway east of the city of Tama.

 

At nearby Toledo, the driver tried to cut through a fast-food restaurant's drive-through lane, but the van was rammed by a Tama County sheriff's deputy, according to the Gazette. There were no reported injuries, but both the van and the squad car were damaged.

 

The van's driver, Frank A. Alvarado, 46, of Moline, was arrested at gunpoint about 9:30 a.m., according to the Gazette.

 

Mr. Alvarado was being held in the Tama County Jail late Thursday on charges of theft, eluding and several traffic violations, according to the Tama County Sheriff's Office. When he would appear in court was unavailable late Thursday.

 

The Donut Delite van was sent back to its owners in Moline late Thursday afternoon -- with its contents uneaten, Tama County Chief Deputy Dave Ruopp told the Gazette.

 

"The owner of the business did tell us to take the doughnuts, as they would go to waste," Chief Deputy Ruopp said. "However, they were returned with the van."

[Theunicornhunter 2]

So, did the driver hava glazed look on his face?

 

Seriously, the police should be reprimanded for recklessly endangering the public. No stolen vehicle, even one full of donuts is worth chasing at 100 mph. You're seriously in danger of killing someone at those speeds.

[BKY1701 0]

So, did the driver hava glazed look on his face?

 

Seriously, the police should be reprimanded for recklessly endangering the public. No stolen vehicle, even one full of donuts is worth chasing at 100 mph. You're seriously in danger of killing someone at those speeds.

 

So they shouldn't chase criminals that go 100 MPH? Then all criminals will go 100 MPH.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

So, did the driver hava glazed look on his face?

 

Seriously, the police should be reprimanded for recklessly endangering the public. No stolen vehicle, even one full of donuts is worth chasing at 100 mph. You're seriously in danger of killing someone at those speeds.

 

So they shouldn't chase criminals that go 100 MPH? Then all criminals will go 100 MPH.

 

No they shouldn't - and most police departments have "safe speed" guidelines. Because a stolen truck is not worth more than the life of an innocent citizen. High speed chases are dangerous and do at times result in the death of third parties - many times children.

 

Think if you were a parent - would you like to see your three year old killed because the police valued property or the thrill of the chase more than human life.

[Kor37 9]

It seems more productive to me to have a helicopter follow the fleeing vehicle who will inform the police on the ground as to what direction the perp is going so that they can set up a road block. When the Police get into a high speed chase, the chase usually ends with the person being chased crashing their vehicle or with Police crashing into the vehicle.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

It seems more productive to me to have a helicopter follow the fleeing vehicle who will inform the police on the ground as to what direction the perp is going so that they can set up a road block.

 

That is a much better idea - I know they're supposedly working on an EMP generator that will stop the car - but I hope it only works on the suspect car - not all nearby cars or that could be bad.