A high speed chase with speeds in excess of 100mph passed through rural Marion County and Knoxville this morning.
25-year-old Travis Edward Sickler began eluding police after an attempted traffic stop in Chariton. He fled north on Highway 14 through Knoxville, and turned on to Illinois Drive, toward Pleasantville, where Sickler was apprehended in the 1000 block as his vehicle ran out of fuel. As officers approached the vehicle, Sickler got out of the van he was driving and lay down on the roadway. Authorities on scene tell KNIA/KRLS News they suspect he was not authorized to drive the vehicle. The Chariton Police Department, Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, Knoxville Police Department, the Iowa State Patrol, and Marion County Sheriff’s Office were all involved in the chase. Stop sticks were deployed south of Knoxville, but Sickler avoided them. Sickler was previously involved in a high speed chase through Marion County in October of 2015, and was previously arrested in Marion County on charges of 3rd degree kidnapping, a class C felony, willful injury, a class D felony, and domestic abuse assault from in incident in March of 2015.
Court records show Sickler was sentenced to nine years in prison, and entered custody on May, 16, 2017. He was released on parole only four months later on September 19, 2017 to work release. According to the Iowa Department of Corrections, Travis Edward Sickler is listed as having escaped custody, and was wanted on a warrant prior to his arrest today.