PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) - Police say a 24-year-old man charged
(AP) --
with murdering a prominent Iowa high school football coach was
supposed to be taken to taken to a hospital psychiatric ward after
taking a baseball bat to a Cedar Rapids home Saturday night and
leading police on a car chase.
Cedar Falls Police Chief Jeff Olson says Butler County Sheriff's
deputies were supposed to take Mark Becker to a hospital
psychiatric unit after the Saturday night incident.
Olson says Becker was released at some point but that his
department wasn't notified.
It wasn't immediately clear if the deputies took Becker to the
hospital. The Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the matter.
Becker is charged with first-degree murder in the Wednesday
slaying of Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed
Thomas. Authorities say Becker, a former player, walked into the
high school weight room and unloaded several shots into Thomas in
front of some current players.
Becker was charged Monday with eluding police pursuit.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
