Spencer,IA : Fleeing felons crash into lake on September, Sunday 17th 2017

A 17-minute, high-speed chase late Sunday night ended as a car plunged into the lake near Emerald Park, with a male passenger injured and the female driver trying to escape by swimming out into the lake.

Both are wanted on outstanding warrants. They were taken to the local medical center for treatment and later turned over to Cherokee County authorities and jailed.

Shortly before 9 p.m., Cherokee County Deputy Luke Selk attempted a traffic stop near Quimby. The driver refused to stop and fled at speeds of up to 110 mph toward Buena Vista County, at times with headlights off, with the deputy in pursuit. The entire chase was reportedly filmed from a dash camera in Deputy Selk’s vehicle. At one point, items were reportedly being thrown from the vehicle in an attempt to wreck the officer’s car. After being informed that the owner of the car was wanted on a nationwide felony warrant, Cherokee County officials decided that a high-speed chase was warranted. Sheriff Jerod Clyde and a second deputy joined the pursuit hoping to cut off the vehicle and employ stop sticks to disable it, but were unable to get to an intersection ahead of the suspect car.


Ellyn Wunder
Iowa State Patrol vehicles also responded, and traveled at high speed on parallel roads in case the vehicle turned toward the north or south. Other law enforcement agencies became involved in blocking off roads to minimize the risk of an accident and box in the fleeing vehicle.

The 1991 Volvo approached Storm Lake on C63, crossed Highway 110 at high speed and entered the Emerald Park subdivision with several law enforcement vehicles in pursuit. It went eastbound on North Emerald Drive where it struck a garage in the 100 block, then continued through residential yards and eventually crashed off a 15-foot embankment into the lake, damaging a dock and a small watercraft in the process. A Cherokee County Sheriff’s squad car also went over the embankment, coming to rest partially in the water. In the dark, Deputy Selk had seen only the tail lights of the car, and thought it had pulled into a field and stopped.

The passenger, Kyle Sitzman, 29, of Hinton, was arrested by a deputy, and was reportedly complaining of head injuries in the crash.


Kyle Sitzman
The driver, Ellyn Wunder, 26, of Sioux City, swam away from the vehicle and out into the lake. Wunder was apprehended by sheriff’s deputies who borrowed a pontoon boat at a nearby home. She was found about 200 yards from shore. At one point Wunder reportedly dropped below the surface of the water, but moments later she was pulled into the boat. A witness reported that she was hysterical and saying “He’d kill me if I didn’t run.”

Wunder and Sitzman were transported by ambulances for medical evaluation.

The cars were removed from the lake shortly after the incident, and booms were called for to contain any spilled fluids.



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Fleeing felons crash into lake