NE Iowa Fire Chief Charged in Accident

A charge has now been filed against the Charles City Fire Chief, who was driving a department car that struck a pedestrian last month.

The accident happened shortly after 1pm Tuesday, March 17th, at the intersection of Clark and North Main Streets in Charles City.

36 year old Eric Whipple, the city's fire chief, was on duty and driving a department vehicle, but not responding to any emergency call at the time; he was waiting to turn left, when his light turned green.

At the same time, 85 year old Gladys Kellogg of Charles City, was waiting to walk across the street, when she also got a green light to cross. As she starting walking across the intersection, she was struck by Whipple's car.

Kellogg was taken to the Floyd County Hospital, then later airlifted to St. Mary's in Rochester, Minnesota. She has since been released from the hospital.

The Floyd County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation into the accident; that included acquiring cell phone records, that indicated Whipple was not using his cell phone at the time of the accident.

After consulting with the Floyd County Attorney, it was determined that the appropriate charge would be "Failure to yield to a pedestrian in an intersection. Whipple was given the citation on Tuesday, with a court date of May 8th.

-0-