A 19-year-old Davenport man is in custody after police allege he choked an apartment-complex staff member, then led a pursuit with a loaded gun and a toddler in an SUV.
Kanye Cooke faces felony charges of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, interference with official acts – firearm, controlled substance violation, eluding – speed over 25 over the limit, and possession of a firearm by felon; along with aggravated misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, court records show.
Shortly before 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a report of an assault on the 2100 block of Emerald Drive, arrest affidavits say.
Cooke got into a verbal altercation with a staff member of an apartment complex, police allege in affidavits, and “The altercation escalated when (Cooke) started to physically attack the worker.” He allegedly “choked the worker causing pain and discomfort,” then “pulled out a black firearm and threatened the worker with it,” police allege in affidavits.
Cooke then left the area in a white Chevy Tahoe, which officers found. “Officers in fully marked squad cars attempted to stop the vehicle with their emergency lights and sirens activated,” Cooke said. The Tahoe started to evade officers and failed to yield to the emergency lights/siren, police allege.
Officers engaged the SUV in a pursuit that went through the south-central part of Davenport, according to affidavits.
During the chase, the Tahoe exceeded posted speed limits by 25 mph, did not yield to traffic control devices, drove the wrong way on a one-way street, and swerved through traffic, police allege in affidavits.
“Officers were able to perform a PIT maneuver on the Tahoe and disabled the vehicle,” affidavits show. PIT means precision immobilization technique, in which a pursuing car forces a fleeing car to turn sideways.
Cooke took off on foot with a backpack, affidavits say. Officers ran after him and told him stop, but he kept going and discarded the backpack, affidavits say. Police apprehended him a few moments later.
In the backpack, police allege they found a loaded handgun and two plastic bags with 33.8 grams of marijuana, and packaging material. In the SUV police found a child about two years old in the front passenger seat of the SUV, where the child was unrestrained.
The toddler was uninjured, affidavits show. Cooke, police allege, “drove in a reckless manner with the child in the vehicle unrestrained and left the child alone after the pursuit.”
Officers obtained a search warrant for the SUV and found a digital scale inside.
Cooke was being held on a $5,000 cash-only bond on Tuesday in Scott County Jail, court records show.
