Lengthy police chase through seven towns, two states ends in arrest of Iowa man

DALLAS CITY, Ill. — A Burlington, Iowa man was arrested Saturday after a lengthy pursuit that ended in Keokuk, Iowa.

An officer with the Dallas City Police Department tried to make a traffic stop at 6:15 p.m. on West Fifth Street in Dallas City. A dark blue 2006 BMW with an Iowa registration and a white male driver fled the traffic stop. 

The Dallas City officer pursued the vehicle onto Highway 9/96, then onto Highway 9/94 toward LaHarpe. The officer pulled alongside the vehicle, and the driver then deliberately struck the Dallas City squad car and knocked it off the road. The officer regained control and continued the pursuit. 

The pursuit went through LaHarpe, Terre Haute, Lomax, back to Dallas City, then to Niota and Nauvoo, heading down River Road (Highway 96). The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the pursuit from LaHarpe. The LaHarpe Police Department assisted beginning in  LaHarpe, and the Lomax Police Department assisted starting in Lomax. 

The Hamilton Police Department assisted on River Road by deploying spike strips. The suspect’s vehicle ran over the strips and lost a tire in the 1700 block of River Road. The vehicle continued south through Hamilton and across the Hamilton/Keokuk bridge, where the Keokuk Police Department was there to assist. The suspect’s vehicle went over another set of spike strips and eventually came to a stop at Fifth and Main Streets in Keokuk. 

Deputies from the Hancock County’s Sheriff’s Department, along with officers with the police departments from Dallas City and Hamilton, took Jeremy R. Rourke, 49, of Burlington into custody. 

Rourke was arrested by Iowa authorities on several outstanding warrants for methamphetamine and escape related charges. He was transported to the Lee County Jail in Montrose, Iowa.

Charges regarding the pursuit in Illinois are pending.