Wis. man on the run for 30 years arrested in Iowa after being pulled over for bike infraction

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (TCN) -- A 71-year-old man who had been on the run out of Wisconsin for 30 years was arrested and identified after he was pulled over for not having a bike reflector.

According to WISN-TV, on June 26, a West Des Moines Police Department officer pulled the man over for not having a light on the back of his bike. The officer asked the man his name, and he identified himself as Gregory Stallins. He said he didn’t have a driver’s license, nor had he had one in several decades. The officer took down his information and ran it through the system after letting "Stallins" go free.

WISN reports police located him several minutes later and confronted him about his questionable identity. Newly released body camera footage shared by WISN shows the officer saying, "The info you gave me comes back to a dead guy. Gregory Stallins is dead."

"Stallins" was later identified as George Hartleroad.

As it turns out, Hartleroad was found guilty of false imprisonment, endangering safety by conduct regardless of life, and possession of a short-barreled rifle in 1983. He reportedly held a woman at knifepoint and sexually assaulted her. He later tied her to a tree, and she was rescued by some passersby.

WISN reports Hartleroad escaped from a halfway house in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1995, after he was released from prison.

After learning Hartleroad’s true identity, one of the officers told him, "None of us are mad at you. I’m just baffled that law enforcement has let you go for 30 years."

A clip from the body cam footage shows Hartleroad telling cops, "I will jump again as soon as they turn me loose."

Hartleroad has been extradited to Wisconsin and is in custody at the Dane County Jail.

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