CEDAR FALLS - Wednesday's fatal shooting came only days after Mark Daryl Becker allegedly attacked a former classmate's home and led officers on a car chase through three counties.

And one of his victims is questioning why Becker was let out of jail following the pursuit.

"This tragedy could have been avoided," said Dwight Rogers as he stood next to his Cedar Falls house that as marked by a dented garage door and broken windows.

Rogers declined to talk at length about the incident out of respect for the mourning family of Coach Ed Thomas.

But he did say his two sons, now adults, had played football under well-known coach.

"They loved Coach Thomas," Rogers, a former Parkersburg resident, said. He said his youngest son graduated with Becker in 2004.

They hadn't seen Becker since graduation, he said.

Then, out of the blue, Becker allegedly showed up at Rogers's home on North Union Road Saturday night and began breaking out windows with a baseball bat. Becker allegedly drove his vehicle into an overhead garage door, said Chief Jeff Olson with the Cedar Falls Police Department.

Becker drove off as officers arrived and led police on a chase that headed west on First Street.

The chase reached speeds of more than 80 mph, Olson said.

Troopers with the Iowa Sate Patrol joined in, and Cedar Falls police dropped out of the pursuit after it crossed the line into Grundy County.

Becker was captured south of Allison in Butler County, authorities said.

Following his arrest, Becker was transported to Covenant Medical Center for medical treatement, said Jeff Jacobson, special agent in charge with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Olson said it was his understanding Becker was supposed to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after he was detained in connection with the pursuit.

He said Cedar Falls police were supposed to be notified when Becker was about to be released from custody because charges they had pending from the vandalism to Rogers's home.

Tuesday night, Becker left the hospital and spent the night at his parents house. No call went out to deputies, Jacobson said.

"Law enforcement was unaware Becker had been released," Jacobson said.

Kevin Winker, DCI assistant director, said he wasn't sure why no nofications were sent out.

Olson said his agency plans to charge him with second-degree criminal mischief and eluding, both felonies, and traffic offenses.

A state courts database shows a criminal complaint alleging felony eluding was filed by Parkersburg police, but officials at the Butler County Clerk of Courts said the file wasn't available Wednesday.

They said any information about the case would have to come from the Butler County Attorney's Office.

Becker, who at one time claimed an address on Moir Street in Waterloo, has had prior run-ins with the law, and he was on unsupervised probation at the time of the shooting, according to court records.

After a 2005 drunken driving conviction, Becker was arrested by Cedar Falls police in November 2008 for misdemeanor serious assault.

The victim, Jeff Hansen, said Becker was hanging out with "druggies" who lived near his Bluff Street home.

The neighbor suspected Hansen was stealing his mail and confronted Hansen at Hansen's home.

Hansen said he shoved the neighbor from his front door, and the neighbor dared him to come out into the street to fight.

When Hansen approached, Becker came out from behind a nearby van and hit him.

"There was one too many guys," Becker said Wednesday.

According to the police report, Hansen had an abrasion to his forehead and contusion to the left side of his face.

Becker allegedly punched Hansen twice in the face, and Hansen fell to the ground, the report states.

A month later - on Dec. 9, 2008 - Becker and two others allegedly kicked in the door of a home on Knoll Avenue in Waterloo. Becker was arrested for fourth-degree criminal mischief, and person with him was charged with criminal mischief and possession of methamphetamine.

Becker told police he thought one of the people with him owned the residence, court records state.

In both cases, Becker pleaded guilty and was fined and sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but four days suspended. He was also placed on self probation for a year.

Then on Jan. 19, 2009, a Black Hawk County sheriff's deputy noticed a burnt out headlight on a car Becker was driving in Waterloo. The deputy found a glass meth pipe and a digital scale in the vehicle, records state, and Becker was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Becker allegedly admitted he was meth user, court records state. He pleaded guilty and was fined, records show.

Becker had enrolled in at least two area colleges.

While still in high school, in 2003, he took a college-level class through Hawkeye Community College.

After graduating from Aplington-Parkersburg High School, Becker enrolled for the 2004 fall semester at Wartburg College in Waverly. He declared a business administration major but didn't take any business classes and withdrew after the semester, said Saul Shapiro, a spokesman for Wartburg.

Becker later enrolled for a semester at Hawkeye Community College in 2006 but left after that.