Sep 24, 2020

Man wanted in officer assault arrested near Kansas City

Posted Sep 24, 2020 6:04 PM
Lybarger -photo Council Bluffs Police
Lybarger -photo Council Bluffs Police

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man has been arrested in Missouri for his alleged role in an assault on an Iowa police officer in which the officer fired his gun, according to officials.

Ian James Lybarger, 29, of Omaha, Nebraska, was arrested Wednesday night following a police chase that began in Red Oak, Iowa, and ended in northwestern Missouri, the Council Bluffs Police Department said Thursday in a news release.

Lybarger is accused of dragging a Council Bluffs police officer last week for several feet in a parking lot as the officer tried to remove him from his car. During the struggle, Officer John Kuebler fired his service weapon, but didn’t hit anyone.

Lybarger is charged in an Iowa warrant with assaulting a police officer, leaving the scene of an injury accident, operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent and theft.

Lybarger is being held 90 minutes north of Kansas City the in Rock Port, Missouri, jail.

At the time of the incident, Lybarger was already wanted on an outstanding warrant out of Omaha for felony theft, police said.

Kuebler remains on administrative leave while the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigates.