A 22-year-old Madison man was sentenced Oct. 23 to four years in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services after a drunken crash that left a Norfolk police officer unconscious and led to assaults on emergency personnel, court records show.
Convictions and sentence
District Judge Michael Long imposed the four-year prison term after the defendant was convicted of driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury, third-degree assault on an officer, third-degree assault on an emergency care provider and resisting arrest. With credit for eight days already served and accounting for good behavior, the judge ordered that the defendant must serve two years of the sentence.
- Charges: DUI causing serious bodily injury; third-degree assault on an officer; third-degree assault on an emergency care provider; resisting arrest.
- Sentence: Four years at NDOC; effectively two years to serve with good-behavior credit and eight days already credited.
Crash and response
The convictions stem from a two-vehicle collision shortly after 5 a.m. Dec. 14 near the intersection of Highway 81 and 829th Road. At the time, a Norfolk police officer was transporting an arrestee to the Madison County Jail and had slowed to make a right turn when his patrol vehicle was struck from behind.
The officer, identified by the Norfolk department, was found unconscious inside a heavily damaged patrol vehicle and was initially taken to Faith Regional Health in Norfolk for treatment. The defendant was found unconscious on the floorboard of his pickup, according to the arrest affidavit filed in Madison County.
Evidence and conduct at the scene
A responding Madison County sheriff’s deputy reported smelling alcohol, observing a yellow wristband consistent with those issued to patrons 21 and older at area bars, and seeing multiple open and unopened alcohol containers inside the pickup. After the defendant became responsive, the deputy said the defendant told officers to leave before rescue personnel arrived.
Rescue workers later requested law enforcement help when the defendant became combative. The affidavit says that after being freed from the pickup the defendant swung closed fists at ambulance crew members; three emergency medical technicians reported being struck. The deputy also reported being struck in the chest. Officers subdued the defendant, who continued resisting before being handcuffed and placed in an ambulance.
The court record shows the case advanced through trial and sentencing in Madison County District Court. The judge’s order binds the sentence to be served at the state corrections department under the terms recorded in court.
