Jefferson-Scranton superintendent Tim Christensen commended elementary staff for their handling of a lockdown situation at the school this morning. His comments were made at a regular school board meeting Monday evening.
School officials were asked at about 8 am to lock down Jefferson-Scranton elementary as Jefferson police, Greene County sheriff’s personnel, State Patrolmen and a Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement officer sought to apprehend a pair of teens who had led them on a high speed chase that ended at one of the boy’s home just a block from the school.
According to Jefferson police chief Dave Morlan, a 2006 Mitsubishi Galant was clocked by a Motor Vehicle Enforcement officer traveling at 103 mph in Slifer in Webster County at 7:15 am. The officer began a pursuit. (At 7:45, the vehicle was reported as having been stolen from a residence in the 500 block of S. Olive St at 5:45.)
The teens headed back toward Jefferson and led the officer on a chase with speeds up to 134 mph. They entered Jefferson on Mulberry St and went south on Cedar St. The pursuit was ended as it approached Russell St because of safety concerns for other motorists and pedestrians near the school. Officers lost sight of the vehicle at that time.
Several calls were received at the Law Enforcement Center that two males were seen running from the car and into a house in the 600 block of S. Olive. Several officers responded and began a search of the neighborhood. Permission was given to search the house and Blythe Eversole, 16, of Jefferson was arrested. He was charged with eluding, a class D felony.
The second teen was not apprehended Monday.
Because of the proximity to the school, officials were asked to lock the building down as a safety precaution. School principal Scott Johnson was out of town on district business. Guidance counselor Teresa Skalla took charge, assisted by secretaries Pam Thomsen and Jill Lamoureux. Students who were on buses in the bus drive, including middle school and high school students, were escorted into the school, and children arriving at the school’s north doors were met and escorted in by retired principal Tom Yepsen, who was also at the school. “It couldn’t have been a worse time, at 8 o’clock, with people coming and going, but they did a nice job of not letting kids out of the building. … Overall, I thought it went very well, especially since nothing at all happened on school grounds,” Christensen said.
All students remained in the school library until about 9 am, when an all clear was given.
Parents were notified by Blackboard Connect, which replaced One Notify this year.
Johnson learned of the incident at the meeting he was attending. “People asked me if I was worried. I told them that yes, I was worried, but not nervous because I have good people that can handle everything,” Johnson told the school board.
Eversole was referred to juvenile authorities. The second teen has not yet been named as of Monday evening. The incident remains under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol.
(Note: This post was edited at 9 am Tuesday.)
