Lang
8/4/19
A man who absconded from Hope House was captured after trying to escape from police on foot Saturday afternoon.
Arrest records indicate 38-year-old Randall Jones of 4th Avenue signed out of Hope House at 8am on July 16th to seek a job. He listed a return time of 11am, but he never returned.
Just before 3:15 Saturday afternoon Coralville Police received a tip that Jones was leaving the Kum & Go on The Coralville Strip in a red van. An officer saw the van leaving the parking lot and attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the 1100 block of 5th Street. Jones stopped a half-block later, exiting through the passenger side door and fleeing on foot. When one officer cut off Jones’ path with his squad car, Jones changed direction and was cut off by another squad car and captured.
Jones is charged with Absence from Custody and Interference with Official Acts. If convicted on both charges, he faces a maximum of 13 months in jail.
Jones was sentenced to Hope House after pleading guilty earlier this year to charges of Operating a Vehicle Without Owners Consent, Domestic Abuse Assault Impeding Airflow and Impersonating a Public Official. Last January Jones failed to return a car he had borrowed and led police on a chase through North Liberty, ending on the University of Iowa Oakdale campus.
In separate incidents in 2016 he pretended to be a police officer during a fight at Lake MacBride and choked a woman sitting in a pickup truck on Coral Court.