Cedar Rapids man lost in Buchanan County calls 911, gets arrested on active arrest warrant

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said it rescued a man who had gotten lost in a wooded area after the sun went down, but then arrested him when it was found he had an active arrest warrant.(Buchanan County Sheriff's Office)
Published: Jun. 28, 2022 at 12:06 PM CDT

BRANDON, Iowa (KCRG) - The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said it rescued a man who had gotten lost in a wooded area after the sun went down, but then arrested him when it was found he had an active arrest warrant.

In a news release, the sheriff’s office said Garrett Spence, 32, of Cedar Rapids, called 911 after getting lost in the Koutney Pond/Hoffman Woods area at around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. That’s in the 1600 block of 330th Street and along I-380 east of Brandon.

Spence told the dispatcher he had gone to the area to fish, but got lost when the sun went down. He also said his phone battery was nearly depleted, so he lit a fire near a creek to help first responders find him.

Sheriff’s deputies used a drone to locate the fire and a K9 deputy to help locate the man. Deputies said Spence was found tired, but uninjured.

After speaking with Spence and finding that he had an active arrest warrant, deputies took him into custody. The arrest warrant is out of Linn County for a charge of second degree sexual abuse. Spence was later transferred to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

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