Suspect dead after standoff and chase through several counties in northwest Iowa

SAC CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — A multi-county chase in northwest Iowa ended Friday with the suspect dead, authorities said.

According to the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, on June 14 at approximately 3:18 p.m., they received a report of a chase in Crawford County. The vehicle involved was a Lincoln Navigator SUV that had reportedly been stolen that morning in Woodbury County. The SUV appeared to be traveling north toward Ida and Sac counties.

The suspect in the stolen SUV was Jason Scott French of Manilla in Crawford County. Authorities said he was wanted on a felony warrant in South Dakota and was alleged to have carried a gun and threatened police officers.

Crawford County officers called off the pursuit, but an Ida County officer found the SUV in the southeastern part of Ida County. French continued to be pursued north, but the SUV could not be stopped. Sac County authorities and the Iowa State Patrol continued the pursuit into Sac County, where the SUV eventually struck a fence and came to rest in a ditch.

French then allegedly exited the vehicle with a gun. Officers attempted to communicate with him but heard a gunshot after a two-hour standoff. French was then found dead on the ground with a gun nearby, according to the Sac County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy revealed a “contact gunshot wound to the head.”

Authorities said they did not fire any shots themselves.