Two People And A Dog Dead After York County Police Chase

York, NE (February 9, 2022)  A suspect, a law enforcement canine, and a motorist in the wrong place at the wrong time all died last night at the end of a law enforcement chase in York County.

The York County Sheriff’s office says it all started at 11:02 Tuesday night when a Sheriff’s Deputy tried to stop a pickup that was driving erratically on a County Road four miles west and one mile north of York.  Rather than stopping, the driver of the pickup fled at a speed “in excess of 100 miles per hour”.  Three miles to the north, the pickup stopped, the driver got out, and declared that he had a gun.

The Sheriff’s report went on to say “The suspect then concealed his hands and advised officers that he wanted to die. The suspect was not responding to the officer‘s commands. The suspect advanced towards the officers and gained control of a marked patrol canine unit. The encounter outside of the suspect vehicle lasted just over a minute. ”  The dog was still inside the patrol unit as the suspect sped away.

Pursuit of the marked patrol unit began at that point. The suspect drove away in the patrol unit “at a high rate of speed” and the pursuit continued throughout York County and then into the City of York. 

The chase came to a stop again at a railroad crossing in the northeast corner of York, near Highway 34, with the suspect headed north.  The stolen patrol unit stopped on the railroad tracks, and the fugitive driver got out and stood on the tracks with a train approaching.  The Sheriff’s report says Officers tried to get to the patrol unit to get to the driver and get the dog out before the train arrived.  As the Officers approached the vehicle, however, the driver jumped back in and sped away again. He did so just before the train arrived, heading north, leaving the officers blocked on the south side of the tracks as the train began passing.

The Sheriff’s report said the fugitive driver turned around six blocks to the north, headed south at a high rate of speed, and rammed into the back of another southbound vehicle that was waiting for the train to pass.    “The stolen canine unit pushed the vehicle into the train. The suspect, the driver of the vehicle, and the canine were killed instantly.”

None of the names have been released yet, pending notification of next of kin.