A driver in a Chevrolet Malibu with Colorado license plates led law enforcement on a lengthy pursuit around the eastern half of Webster County on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Webster County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Tony Walter, a deputy with the department attempted to stop the vehicle for a traffic violation near the intersection of Fifth Avenue South and Quail Avenue around 3:45 p.m. The driver of the vehicle failed to stop and took off east toward Hamilton County.

The chase crossed into Hamilton County briefly, Walter said, before turning north and then turning west back into Webster County again.

Three of the four deputies on patrol assisted with the pursuit, Walter said. Chief Deputy Derek Christie and a deputy with the Criminal Investigation Division also joined. The Iowa State Patrol provided assistance with its traffic enforcement aircraft.

The pursuit started traveling north toward the Vincent area, before turning east again toward Wright County. A deputy laid out “stop sticks” on the roadway on 270th Street in northwest Wright County, and the Malibu hit the sticks and continued on for about another mile.

At about 4:18 p.m., deputies located the abandoned vehicle in a cornfield near the intersection of 270th Street and Calhoun Avenue near Rose Hill Cemetery, about half a mile west of Eagle Grove.

Walter said there may have been two occupants in the vehicle, but it was empty when deputies approached it in the cornfield.

“We believe they fled into the cornfield,” he said.

The WCSO immediately began a ground and air search for the suspects, searching nearby crop fields and a nearby farm house.

As of press time, the suspects had not been located.

Walter said the Malibu was impounded and the sheriff’s office intends to obtain a search warrant to search the vehicle. He said the department does not believe there is any ongoing threat to the public.

Anyone with information about the pursuit, the driver of the vehicle or any passenger is encouraged to call the Webster County Law Enforcement Center at 515-573-2323.

The WCSO was assisted by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Wright County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Eagle Grove Police Department.