BURLINGTON, Iowa — A report of a Walmart shoplifter led to a high-speed police chase that damaged multiple cars throughout Burlington and West Burlington on Sunday, according to a West Burlington Police Department news release.
Around 6:13 p.m. on Sunday, West Burlington police responded to Walmart for a report of a theft in progress.
Responding officers identified the suspect as Jesse Joseph Dodge, who was found to have an outstanding warrant.
Officers attempted to stop Dodge before he entered his vehicle, opening Dodge's driver's door and giving Dodge multiple commands to step out of the vehicle, to which he didn't comply.
Dodge then reversed his vehicle and struck a parked vehicle in the Walmart parking lot.
One officer was struck by Dodge's open driver door and thrown onto a patrol car's hood as Dodge reversed his vehicle in an attempt to elude officers.
Dodge left the parking lot and led officers on a high-speed chase throughout Burlington and West Burlington, exceeding speeds of 80 mph.
Police used spike-strips to disable Dodge's vehicle, causing Dodge to lose control of his vehicle at the intersection of Charles Street and Sunnyside Avenue, where his vehicle slid sideways into a ditch.
Dodge continued driving after sliding into the ditch, using the front of his vehicle to ram head-on into a Burlington K9 patrol car occupied by two officers and a K9.
Dodge then reversed into a West Burlington patrol car, and drove his vehicle a short distance before it became disabled by overheating and two flat tires.
Dodge refused officers' commands to exit the vehicle, and officers eventually broke the driver and passenger side windows to remove Dodge from the vehicle.
One officer suffered a hand laceration while extracting Dodge from the vehicle.
Dodge is charged with felony eluding, possession of controlled substance, interference with official acts- causing bodily injury, interference with official acts, five charges of assault on peace officer- no injury, possession of drug paraphernalia, unlawful possession of prescription drugs, ineligible to carry weapons, theft in the third degree and trespassing.
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel
