STOLEN PATROL CAR FOUND; ESCAPEE STILL AT LARGE
AUDUBON COUNTY, IA - On Monday, authorities located the patrol
car stolen from the Audubon County Jail Sunday. The jail escapee,
John Christopher Gaines,30, remains at large.
Dallas County sheriff's officials discovered the car around
4:30 p.m. in a field south of Granger. The vehicle was wedged
between two trees and the airbag had been deployed. Blood covered
the steering wheel and airbag. Police found the loaded shotgun
and rifle, untouched, in the car's trunk, where the weapons had
been before the cruiser was stolen.
Around 2:10 p.m. Sunday, Gaines overpowered a sheriff's deputy
delivering laundry to his cell. Gaines then locked the officer
and a dispatcher inside two separate cells and stole the cruiser.
The deputy, who sustained bruises during his struggle with Gaines,
used a phone inside the cell to summon help.
At the time, authorities believed Gaines would head toward
Council Bluffs, where his wife is undergoing drug rehabilitation,
but the patrol car was found east of Audubon County. Authorities
have not yet verified if Gaines stole a car in Grimes on Sunday.
Gaines was in jail awaiting his sentencing hearing scheduled for
Dec. 13. A jury convicted Gaines of manufacturing more than five
grams of methamphetamine in the presence of a minor, possession
of drug-manufacturing materials and child endangerment. He faces
up to 32 years in prison.
Gaines is described as a white male with black hair and brown eyes,
a light mustache and a goatee.
Backup new staff writer Holly Cooley - 12/28/99
©Copyright 1999 PS Online. All Rights Reserved