NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEBRASKA STATE PATROL
www.nsp.state.ne.us
Contact: Deb Collins 402-479-4985
July 8, 2009

Pursuit Suspect Located after Lengthy Search

(Kearney, NE)- A pursuit suspect who evaded officers after fleeing into a Buffalo County cornfield was arrested shortly after 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 08, 2009, at a gas station near the Minden I-80 Interchange.

The incident began shortly after 8:00 p.m., on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, when a trooper stopped a westbound 2000 Cadillac, just east of the Shelton exit on Interstate 80 in Hall County.  The vehicle matched the description of a car involved with a theft of services in Waco, Nebraska.   As the trooper approached the vehicle, the driver sped off.  The trooper pursued the vehicle on I-80 into Buffalo County.  

The Cadillac exited the interstate at the Minden Interchange and headed north on Highway 10, before turning east onto a gravel road.   The vehicle traveled approximately three miles on the county road before turning into the driveway of a farm house.  At that point, the vehicle drove through the property and entered a cornfield west of the residence.  Troopers located the abandoned vehicle in the cornfield.   The pursuit lasted approximately 16 minutes and reached speeds between 60 & 120 mph.

Troopers established a perimeter around the cornfield.  The NSP Air Wing Helicopter, a K-9 unit and officers from the Shelton Police Department and Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the search for the suspect.  The search was called off after several hours on July 7 and resumed at daybreak on July 8.

The suspect, identified as 36-year-old Frank Doherty of Harrington, Delaware was arrested Wednesday morning, after authorities received reports of a disheveled man asking for a ride near the Minden Interchange.  Doherty was lodged in the Buffalo County Detention Center on charges of Flight to Avoid Arrest, Theft of Services and Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle.

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