Cops chase down doughnut delivery van
TOLEDO, Iowa (AP) - March 21, 2008 But the cops weren't simply hankering for doughnuts.
The van, owned by Donut Delite of Moline, Ill., was stolen early
Thursday while the driver was making deliveries at a hospital in
nearby Rock Island. The driver had left the van running, and a man
jumped in and headed for Iowa, just over the Mississippi River.
A Benton County, Iowa, sheriff's deputy spotted the van later in
the morning, and eight other officers eventually joined the chase.
Authorities finally cornered it in neighboring Tama County.
Frank Alvarado, 46, of Moline, Ill., was charged with theft and
other counts and was held on $15,000 bond.
Security video showed Alvarado milling about before driving off
in the van, but he was not listed as a patient, said officials at
Trinity Medical Hospital-West in Rock Island. A jail official said
he was assigned a public defender, whose name wasn't immediately
available.
Tama County Sheriff Dennis Kucera said his officers had no idea
what the unmarked van was carrying.
They were rewarded for their efforts anyway - the doughnut shop
gave them the purloined goodies.
