Trucker faces probable cause hearing for chase across Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) - A North Dakota man is scheduled for a hearing next month to determine criminal probable cause after a December pursuit crossing six counties in Nebraska.

Kasey Martinson, 56, of Sanborn, North Dakota, is charged in Lancaster County Court with assault on an officer using a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an injury accident and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing March 21. During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors present evidence to a judge who determines whether there is probable cause that a crime was committed and probable cause that the suspect committed that crime. If the judge determines that probable cause exists, the case is then transferred to trial court.

In a press release, the State Patrol said a trooper stopped Martinson’s semi near Waverly December 15 after he was seen driving recklessly. The patrol claims that Martinson then backed his flat-bed trailer into the trooper’s cruiser causing a head injury to the trooper. He then fled the scene westbound on Interstate 80 and was arrested 2 1/2 hours later about 20 miles west of Kearney.

The injured trooper was treated and released at a Lincoln hospital for minor injuries. Martinson was treated at CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney, but was later transferred to the Lancaster County jail, where he’s being held on $500,000 bond.