FOREST CITY, Iowa — A judge has set a new trial date of Oct. 29 for a former Forest City police officer charged with burglary and arson.

In May the Iowa Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for 37-year-old Thaddeus Ellenbecker. The Appeals Court said officers failed to read Ellenbecker his Miranda rights.

Ellenbecker was convicted in 2012 of arson and burglary. He was accused of setting a fire that damaged the Forest City police station in October 2011. Authorities say he stole an assault rifle from a squad car in November 2010.

Ellenbecker’s second trial was scheduled to begin Sept. 17. On Tuesday a Winnebago County District Court judge changed the date to Oct. 29 as Ellenbecker waived his right to a speedy trial.

 

Man gets federal time

A man who police say led them through Floyd and two other Iowa counties on a high-speed chase has been sentenced to federal prison on a firearms conviction.

Twenty-two-year-old Franklin Foster, of Charles City, on Monday was given 71 months and must serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison. He’d pleaded guilty on June 11 to being a felon in possession of firearms.