A midday hit-and-run on Interstate 80 in Lincoln turned into a 12-minute, 110-mile-per-hour pursuit across the east side of the city on Thursday, November 5, and ended with Nebraska State Patrol troopers — guided from the air — arresting a Colorado man in a northeast Lincoln neighbourhood. The State Patrol says the driver, James Bernard, 44, of Thornton, Colorado, was arrested on allegations including flight to avoid arrest and weapons charges; the allegations have not been tested in court.
Source: Nebraska State Patrol
According to the State Patrol's release, the incident began just after 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, when NSP received a report of a Chevrolet Impala involved in a hit-and-run on I-80 near Lincoln. The vehicle was reportedly speeding, struck the back of a trailer, and kept driving eastbound.
110 mph on I-80, then a trooper backs off
At about 12:15 p.m., a trooper saw the same vehicle travelling eastbound on I-80 in Lincoln and attempted a traffic stop. The Patrol says the driver accelerated instead, and the vehicle reached speeds exceeding 110 miles per hour on the interstate before exiting onto southbound 56th Street. As the vehicle approached high-traffic areas on 56th Street, the trooper discontinued the ground pursuit out of concern for public safety.
The chase was not over. A short time later, another trooper saw the same vehicle speeding on Highway 6, travelling eastbound out of Lincoln, and attempted a second traffic stop. The driver again refused to yield. By then the NSP AirWing was airborne and took over the pursuit from the air as the vehicle fled toward Waverly, then turned around and drove back into Lincoln.
A gun thrown from the vehicle, troopers say
During the Highway 6 leg of the pursuit, the State Patrol says, the driver is suspected of throwing a gun out of the vehicle onto the road on Highway 6 near 98th Street. Troopers later recovered the firearm. That allegation sits behind two of the weapons counts in the arrest: possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, and possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony.
NSP pilots tracked the vehicle to the area of 71st and Douglas — in the Norwood Park neighbourhood of northeast Lincoln, local radio KFOR reported — where the vehicle parked and a single occupant got out and began walking away. The pilots directed troopers on the ground to the spot, and troopers took the driver into custody without further incident.
Source: KFOR News, Lincoln
The charges, as alleged
The State Patrol names the driver as James Bernard, 44, of Thornton, Colorado. He was arrested for flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony, possession of a controlled substance, and other charges. The Patrol's release does not say whether anyone was injured in the original hit-and-run, and it does not name the trailer's driver. All of the charges are allegations: Bernard is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
This pursuit shows the modern playbook on a busy corridor: when speeds and traffic made a ground chase too dangerous on 56th Street, the trooper broke off — and the aircraft kept eyes on the car instead. The State Patrol credits its pilots with following the vehicle to 71st and Douglas and talking ground troopers in for a quiet arrest on foot.
Background: I-80 through Lincoln
Interstate 80 is Nebraska's main east-west artery and one of the busiest trucking corridors in the United States, carrying long-haul freight — including many Punjabi-Canadian and Punjabi-American truckers running coast-to-coast loads — straight through Lincoln, the state capital. A hit-and-run involving a trailer on that corridor, followed by triple-digit speeds through city interchanges at midday, is exactly the combination troopers say they weigh when deciding whether to continue, break off, or hand a pursuit to the AirWing.
What happens next
Bernard's case now moves to the Lancaster County courts, where the County Attorney's office will decide on formal charges from the Patrol's arrest list; the State Patrol release did not announce a first court date. The recovered firearm, and the allegation that it was thrown from the car near 98th Street, are likely to be central evidence on the weapons counts. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when formal charges or a court date are announced.