Officers with the Jefferson Police Department witnessed two separate instances of impaired driving that resulted in a high-speed chase and the arrest of two individuals over the weekend. In the first incident, at approximately 6:56 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, an officer was responding to an emergency call when he witnessed a vehicle behind him leaving the roadway and driving erratically. He radioed in the details and another officer began following the suspected vehicle east on U.S. Highway 30. When he attempted to stop the vehicle, it refused to pull over and sped up, reaching speeds of 95 miles per hour. The driver, 19-year-old Austin Michael Laverne Lindahl of Boone, eventually pulled over west of Pioneer Avenue and was arrested. He has been charged with first-offense operating while intoxicated, a serious misdemeanor, along with reckless driving, excessive speed and possession of alcohol under the legal age, all simple misdemeanors. The second incident occurred at approximately 12:47 a.m. Sunday morning when an officer witnessed a vehicle fail to stop at the sign posted at U.S. Highways 4 and 30. Nineteen-year-old Gretta Darlene Halterman of Jefferson was arrested and charged with first-offense operating while intoxicated a serious misdemeanor, and failure to obey a stop sign, failure to provide proof of financial liability and possession of alcohol under the legal age, all simple misdemeanors.
