Decorah woman involved in Saturday night crash in Dubuque has now died

The Dubuque Police Department says 22-year-old Alexandra Benson of Decorah has died from injuries received in a Saturday night car accident in downtown Dubuque.

Dubuque Police say they received a call around 9:20 Saturday night about a suspicious person with a flashlight walking around a house in the 1600 block of Washington Street.  When two officers arrived at the scene moments later, they saw Benson, who was driving a vehicle in the immediate area that matched the description police had been given.

Dubuque Police say Benson originally gave officers a false name.  As the investigation progressed, she was correctly identified as Alexandra A. Benson of 506 Valley Drive #3 in Decorah.  Police then discovered there was a warrant for her arrest in Delaware County.

Officers told her to get out of the truck, but Benson instead drove away, running two red lights, then colliding with a southbound vehicle driven by 21-year-old Chansey Hendren of Dubuque.  Hendren and her passenger escaped their vehicle before it caught fire.

Benson and her passenger, 22-year-old Kirstianna Siegert of Dubuque, were trapped in the Benson's truck as police and fire personnel attempted to extinguish the fire.  Siegert was ultimately able to escape the truck with assistance from emergency personnel.  But Benson had to be extricated from the car, making her injuries more severe.  Benson was taken to Mercy Medical Center Dubuque, then later transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where she died Thursday.