A North Platte man has been charged with slew of charges after a wild ride through the city yesterday evening.
Just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, officers with the North Platte Police Department were walking out of the police station when they observed a white four-door sedan drive southbound on Jeffers at an extremely high rate of speed.
Officers attempted to catch up to the vehicle, but due to the vehicle’s speed and the head start it had on officers, they were unable to locate it.
A few minutes later, officers were dispatched to the Emergency Room (ER) at Great Plains Regional Medical Center after receiving a report of a male subject driving a white car through the construction zone at the hospital. Witnesses then observed a male subject get out of the car, remove his pants and shirt and run into the ER.
Officers made contact with the subject, Tracy McCants, inside of the ER.
According to police, McCants was acting paranoid and jittery. He told officers that a bug that had jumped into his body was now trying to escape. He advised that he had captured the bug in his hand, but when he showed officers, there was nothing there. Police say it was clear that McCants was hallucinating.
Officers suspected that McCants was under the influence of methamphetamine and his statements corroborated their suspicions. A small baggie containing methamphetamine was located in McCants’ belongings.
Another officer met with a female passenger that was inside the vehicle McCants had been driving. The officer recognized the sedan as the same vehicle that had driven by them at the police station. The female advised officers that she was the owner of the car and was involved in a relationship with McCants.
She advised that McCants had been acting paranoid and told her that a bug had gotten inside him. He wanted to take her car and she had told him no several times. McCants ended up getting into the driver’s seat of the car, so the female got into the passenger seat.
The female confirmed to officers that McCants had indeed driven by the police department at a high rate of speed, then drove through the construction zone at the hospital construction zone, ramped a concrete island then jumped out of the car before removing his clothing and running into the ER.
The vehicle sustained extensive damage.
Other witnesses confirmed the females story.
McCants was treated in the ER, then arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence-First Offense, Driving Under Suspension, Willful Reckless Driving, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Possession of Methamphetamine, Criminal Mischief Over $1,500, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Police say the female subject also told them McCants had been drinking alcohol, but the results of a blood test have not yet been received.
