Iowa thief apprehended quickly in Lincoln County

This past week a thief was involved in burglarizing businesses in the Sprague, Harrington and Edwall communities. As a result deputies focused patrols in those areas in an attempt to locate the suspect vehicle, believed to be a black Honda CRX.

In the early morning hours of February 4, Deputy Roland Singer observed a black Honda CRX traveling through the City of Harrington, which resulted in a pursuit after a traffic stop was attempted. The suspect vehicle fled Harrington and traveled east on SR-28. As the suspect vehicle approached the City of Davenport, Sergeant Mike Stauffer deployed spike strips which slowed the vehicle and eventually disabled it. A foot pursuit ensued, and the suspect was quickly apprehended and booked into the Lincoln County Jail on multiple charges to include burglary, eluding, theft and related charges.

The suspect is 26-year-old Justin R. Derby of Iowa. A search warrant was served on the suspect vehicle and stolen items were recovered from it that had been taken from the reported burglaries. Derby fled the State of Iowa and went to Spokane while on probation. He currently has a $20,000 bail for a parole violation out of Iowa, his probation officer reports.

Sheriff Wade Magers said he was very pleased with the quick arrest and thorough investigation, which involved several deputies throughout the week as several crime scenes had to be investigated. Members of the public also assisted by reporting the crimes quickly and giving information about seeing a black Honda CRX in the areas in the early morning hours, which gave the Sheriff’s Office a substantial lead and resulted in the crimes being solved.

If anyone has any further information or has observed this subject, they are encouraged to notify the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office at 725-3501.