Iowa police officer dies in weekend car crash while off duty

BOONE, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa police officer died in a car crash while he was off duty this weekend. The Boone Police Department said Mario Gonzalez died Saturday in a crash, but they didn’t immediately release any details about the crash. Gonzalez had been a part-time officer with the department since 2019. Before that, he worked full-time for the department between August 2016 and October 2019. He was also a member of the Iowa Army National Guard. The Des Moines Register reports that 312 people had died in traffic crashes across the state this year as of Friday. That’s 26 higher than at the same time last year.