May 2 (UPI) — Law enforcement officials arrested an Iowa escaped inmate in Nebraska after he shot and killed a deputy, and led officers on a chase.
Pottawattamie County Deputy Mark Burbridge, a 12-year law enforcement officer, died Monday from his injuries, Sheriff John Danker announced.
Deputies were transporting Wesley Correa-Carmenaty from court to the Pottawattamie County jail after he was convicted of a separate homicide and sentenced to 45 years in prison when he escaped, County Attorney Matt Wilber said.
Danker said that at the Council Bluffs, Iowa, jail, Correa-Carmenaty struggled with officers, took a handgun from one of them and shot two deputies before he drove the transport van through a jail garage door. He later abandoned the van and carjacked the vehicle of driver Jerry Brittan, who he shot; the driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The car then crossed the border from Iowa to Nebraska; Correa-Carenaty later kidnapped Amy Kanger, taking her car and leaving her several blocks away, police said. She called 911. The Omaha, Neb., Police Department gave chase when they saw Correa-Carmenaty, who drove his car into a barrier as he attempted to merge onto an Interstate highway. He was taken into custody without a struggle.
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said the deputy’s gun was recovered at the site of Correa-Carmenaty’s capture. A second inmate was in the transport van originally commandeered by Correa-Carmenaty, but he was not intentionally involved in the escape from the jail.
At the jail, Burbridge and Deputy Pat Morgan, a 10-year law enforcement veteran, were struck by bullets. Deputies did not return fire.
Correa-Carmenaty was booked in the Douglas County, Neb., jail on suspicion of kidnapping and weapons charges. In Iowa, he faces first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
