A man charged with killing an Iowa State Patrol sergeant was initially pulled over after being spotted speeding and illegally driving without an ignition interlock device that tests whether someone has been drinking alcohol, according to a police spokesman. Authorities previously said that 41 year old Michael Lang was pulled over April 9 by a Grundy Center officer for suspicion of driving while barred. Division of Criminal Investigation assistant director Mitch Mortvedt said Wednesday that was a misstatement. Lang was required to have an ignition interlock device in his vehicle, because of his history of drunken driving. A week before Lang allegedly shot and killed Patrol Sgt Jim Smith during a standoff in Grundy Center, he was cited for trespassing at a bar where he had been banned. Lang has been arrested at least seven times for either drunken driving or public intoxication over the last two decades, the most recent in 2016. A spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office said Lang, who unsuccessfully ran for Grundy County sheriff last year, was traveling 15 mph over the limit.
