Tama County Deputy Casey Schmidt brought a K9 unit in to search the vehicle of 28-year-old Keenon Davis, the Illinois man who was arrested after allegedly leading law enforcement on a 20-mile high speed chase along Highway 30 Monday afternoon. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

An Illinois man reached speeds of over 120 miles per hour traveling east along Highway 30 through Marshall County during a 20-mile pursuit before he was finally stopped and arrested at the Meskwaki Travel Plaza in Tama County on Monday afternoon.

According to Marshall County Sheriff Joel Phillips, a Marshall County deputy checked the speed of a 2020 blue Ford passenger car at 110 mph in a 65 mph zone near Highway 30 mile marker 181 at approximately 1:15 p.m. The driver, later identified as 28-year-old Keenon Davis of Northlake, Ill., failed to yield as the deputy initiated the traffic stop for excessive speed.

As Davis approached the intersection of Highway 30 and Jessup Avenue, the vehicle initially pulled over on the shoulder. The driver then accelerated, completing a U-turn and heading east on the highway.

As deputies continued to pursue the vehicle towards Marshalltown on Highway 30, speeds reached over 120 mph. The vehicle continued eastbound over the Iowa River Bridge into Tama County before the Tama County Sheriff’s Department was able to deploy tire deflation devices. As the tires began to deflate, the driver pulled into the Meskwaki Travel Plaza where he was taken into custody and transported to the Marshall County Jail without incident. He is being held on a $2,000 bond.

A K-9 unit was brought out to search the vehicle, and the investigation is ongoing as Davis has been charged with excessive speed, reckless driving, eluding and failure to obey a stop sign. In addition to the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, the MCSO was assisted by the Marshalltown Police Department, the Meskwaki Tribal Police and the Iowa State Patrol in its pursuit.

Officers from the Meskwaki Tribal Police and the Tama and Marshall County sheriff’s offices were all on the scene Monday afternoon as a high speed chase that began west of Marshalltown ended at the Travel Plaza. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

Toledo resident Rayvn Benner was headed eastbound on Highway 30, when the suspect, flanked by law enforcement, passed Benner and her grandmother.

“We were driving home from Walmart and we were talking like normal about whether it was going to rain or not. We were at the Le Grand turn off maybe a little farther ahead when I noticed my grandmother was eyeing a blue car in the rear view mirror. Next thing we know this blue car almost smashed into the drivers side of the car like the driver was losing control, it felt like a giant gust of wind or a wave was going to push us off the road,” Benner said. “We were close enough we could have almost touched his car, I’m really surprised the left mirror didn’t get hit by the car. We swerved to the side trying not to get hit. We ended up getting onto the shoulder and waited for all the cop cars to pass as I was asking my grandmother if she was okay since she was driving.”

The pair both described themselves as shocked.

“I was more shocked than anything. I had never seen a car go that fast in person before and I was wondering why they were going that fast to begin with,” Benner said. “We pulled over for a good 5 minutes as we processed what happened and to wait for the cops to pass us. Just when we thought we were okay to go another cop would go by us till we could finally go”

After being pulled over, the pair drove past where the crash had come to an end and saw maybe six or seven police cars at the post.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

Thankfully, Benner and her grandmother were not hurt as a result of the incident, but it goes to show the importance of respecting traffic laws and looking after fellow commuters.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER