Iowa trooper dies of injuries sustained in NE Iowa crash

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa State Patrol trooper has died nearly a week after he was injured in a car crash in northeast Iowa that happened while he was rushing to assist another agency. Trooper Ted Benda was hurt Oct. 14 in a single-vehicle crash while en route to help the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office with a wanted suspect. The Department of Public Safety says he died of those injuries Wednesday. In a release announcing his death, the state patrol and Department of Public Safety described officers and staff as being “heartbroken.” The 37-year-old Benda joined the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation in 2005 and transferred to the state patrol in 2016. He is survived by his wife, Holly, and their four children.