A Wednesday afternoon high-speed pursuit in Marshall County ended with the capture of a fugitive and 2 pounds of methamphetamine.

A Marshall County Sheriff’s deputy located a vehicle reported stolen from California while patrolling Highway 330. The vehicle was in the southwest portion of the county near the Harvester area.

The driver, Uriel Ruelas, 26, of Visalia, Calif., failed to yield when the deputy tried to stop him and then attempted to elude law enforcement. He made a U-turn to head south on the four-lane road and later turned onto gravel roads. Ruelas entered Story County for approximately one-half mile on 320th Street before he lost control and entered the ditch. The pursuit covered approximately seven to eight miles and reached speeds of 100 mph while on Highway 330.

Ruelas and the passenger, Ruben Magallenes, 24, of Tulare, Calif., were taken into custody with the assistance of other law enforcement and without further resistance.

The methamphetamine was located discarded in the ditch. A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle, which resulted in the seizure of approximately one more pound of methamphetamine.

Ruelas had felony warrants issued in Nevada alleging aiding and abetting robbery with a deadly weapon, aid and abetting burglary with a deadly weapon and failure to appear for conspiracy to possess stolen property. He has been charged in Marshall County with second-degree theft, eluding and other traffic offenses including speeding, reckless driving, no driver’s license and failure to maintain control.

Ruelas and Magallenes were charged with possession of a schedule II controlled substance with the intent to deliver, and failure to affix a drug tax stamp. Both were transported to the Marshall County Jail, where they remain in custody.

Assistance was also provided by the Iowa State Patrol, the Story County Sheriff’s Office and the Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force.