Dune buggy outruns police car

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Hillsboro police officer Duane McCarty was driving home after his Sunday shift when he ended up chasing a yellow dune buggy down Old Mill Rd.

McCarty was driving east on US-56 from Hillsboro toward his Marion home about 5:30 p.m., Hillsboro Assistant Police Chief Randy Brazil said.

When an eastbound camper ahead of him slowed to turn north onto Old Mill toward Marion Reservoir, a yellow dune buggy that had stopped at a stop sign on the north side of US-56 peeled out in front of the camper, doing a wheelie across the highway, and continued south on Old Mill.

McCarty turned south onto Old Mill and followed.

The dune buggy and McCarty drove at speeds between 80 and 85 mph, Brazil said.

When the dune buggy reached Old Mill and 190th Rd., where another stop sign indicated it should stop, it ran the stop sign and went onto a graveled portion of Old Mill.

Within a few hundred feet, McCarty stopped pursuing the dune buggy because too much dust made it unsafe.