Agent who tracked Iowa governor's speeding SUV fired

RAW VIDEO: Iowa State Patrol troopers, alerted by Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Larry Hedlund, clocked Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's vehicle doing 84 mph on April 26. Five days later, Hedlund was placed on leave.

Jeff Eckhoff, The Des Moines Register 4:54 p.m. EDT July 17, 2013

Attorney says tension with bosses preceded firing of veteran Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent.


In this Jan. 15, 2013, file photo Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad delivers the Condition of the State address at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines. Records released Tuesday, July 2, 2013, show the governor was in an SUV traveling about 90 mph in April. The vehicle was not stopped, but the agent who initiated the chase has been suspended.(Photo: AP)

Story Highlights

  • Larry Hedlund was put on leave two days after complaining about the incident
  • Hedlund and state troopers did not initially know the vehicle was the governor's
  • Department of Public Safety said firing was not a "result of his complaint of the speeding" SUV


DES MOINES -- An Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent who encouraged troopers to pull over a speeding vehicle that contained the Iowa governor was fired Wednesday after a long period of tension with his bosses at the Iowa Department of Public Safety, his attorney Tom Duff told The Des Moines Register.

Larry Hedlund, a 25-year veteran Iowa investigator who earned $96,518 annually, was removed from duty May 1 -- two days after he e-mailed a scathing complaint that blamed Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad for speeding by the governor's driver and called for an end to "what apparently is a common practice that puts the general public in danger."

Hedlund had been special agent in charge of the criminal investigation region that includes Fort Dodge, Iowa. The formal complaint he filed with his bosses lamented his own failure to do more to stop Branstad's speeding vehicle April 26.

STORY: Review of Iowa governor's speeding vehicle underway

Recordings obtained by The Des Moines Register show Hedlund was headed west on U.S. 20 when he telephoned a state dispatcher on April 26 and asked to have troopers stop a Chevy Tahoe that he estimated to be doing "a hard 90" as it headed west toward Interstate 35. Troopers eventually clocked the vehicle's speed at 84 mph.

In this Nov. 2, 2011, photo a black SUV carrying Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, and a police escort, unseen in front, travel a reopened stretch of Interstate 680. A trooper pursued the same state vehicle carrying Branstad on April 26 that was speeding 90 miles per hour on an Iowa highway, but declined to pull the driver over after realizing who was in the vehicle, according to records released Tuesday, July 2, 2013.(Photo: AP)

Neither Hedlund nor the responding troopers knew it was Branstad's vehicle, however, until pursuing Trooper Matt Eimers caught up with it and recognized the Tahoe as "Car 1." The vehicle, which had a license plate not listed in state computerized records, then was being driven by Trooper Steve Lawrence.
Hedlund e-mailed his complaint to Division of Criminal Investigation head Charis Paulson on April 29. A May 1 "Notice of Investigation" announced two days later that Hedlund allegedly "was disrespectful during a conference call with DCI leadership on 4/18/2013." Hedlund also was accused of operating his state vehicle during what was supposed to be vacation time on April 26, of failing to request leave before taking it on April 30 and engaging in "conduct that impairs the operations of the Department."

The Iowa Department of Public Safety, in a news release Wednesday, said it is the state's policy to maintain "confidentiality in personnel matters."
However, the release said that disciplinary action resulted from the investigation into Hedlund's actions. The release did not specify the discipline but stressed that "Hedlund did not receive discipline as a result of his complaint of the speeding state vehicle."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/17/iowa-governor-branstad-speeding-agent/2529743/