The Nebraska State Patrol in conjunction with the Seward County Attorney has released the names of the suspects involved in a fatal pursuit on Friday, May 10.

Nathan D. Brokaw, 28, Brainard, was killed after exchanging gunfire with Nebraska State Patrol troopers.  A second suspect Joseph J. Pritchard, 31, Stromsburg, was taken into custody after falling out of the passenger side of the vehicle.

The incident began during the early evening hours on Friday, May 10, as investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol were conducting surveillance on Brokaw and Pritchard at a residence at 310 East 7^th Street, in Stromsburg. Brokaw was wanted on active felony warrants out of Platte and Colfax Counties for Terroristic Threats and Witness Tampering, while Pritchard was wanted for Absconding Parole.  Around 7:00 p.m., investigators observed the two males sitting in a car parked in an alley behind the residence. Investigators approached the vehicle at which time the vehicle accelerated through the yard. Pritchard was thrown from the passenger side door. He was taken into custody. Pritchard was transported to the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln on the arrest warrant for his parole violation

A pursuit ensued traveling on county roads in Polk, Butler and Seward Counties. During the pursuit Brokaw, the driver of the vehicle, fired multiple rounds at NSP units. Just north of the community of Bee, the suspect vehicle was rammed by NSP units and came to rest in the east ditch off County Road 252 in Seward County. Once the vehicle was stopped Brokaw fired multiple rounds at troopers who returned fire, fatally wounding Brokaw.  No troopers were injured during the pursuit. There were two primary patrol units involved in the pursuit. Approximately 8-10 units responded to the scene to assist in intercepting the fleeing suspect.

The investigation continues. An autopsy will be conducted. Investigative reports, once completed, will be forwarded to the Seward County Attorney. Nebraska law requires a grand jury be convened anytime someone dies while in custody or in the process of apprehension.

The Nebraska State Patrol in conjunction with the Seward County Attorney and Seward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a pursuit in which the driver of the vehicle was killed after firing on troopers.

During the early evening hours on Friday, May 10, investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol were conducting surveillance on two males with active felony warrants at a residence in Stromsburg.  Just before 8:00 p.m., investigators observed two males sitting in a car parked in an alley behind the residence. Investigator’s approached the vehicle at which time the vehicle accelerated through the yard, ejecting one male suspect out of the passenger side of the vehicle. The suspect ejected from the vehicle sustained minor injuries and was taken into custody.

A pursuit ensued traveling on county roads in Polk, Butler and Seward Counties. During the pursuit, the driver of the suspect vehicle fired multiple rounds at Nebraska State Patrol units. Just north of the community of Bee, the suspect vehicle was rammed by NSP units and came to rest in the east ditch off of County Road 252 in Seward County.  Once the vehicle was stopped, the suspect fired multiple rounds at troopers who returned fire fatally wounding the suspect.

The names of the deceased suspect and the suspect taken into custody in Stromsburg are not being released at this time. No Nebraska State Patrol troopers were injured.

The investigation continues. No further details will be released at this time.

Southern California authorities are trying to determine whether pit bulls seized at an alleged pot house are the same dogs that mauled a runner to death.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday that authorities will try to match DNA from six animals seized at a home in the Mojave Desert community of Littlerock. A man there was arrested Thursday on suspicion of growing pot.

Authorities say four pit bulls attacked and killed a 63-year-old woman jogging in the town earlier Thursday. Her name hasn’t been released.

 

Authorities say a 52-year-old woman who was pointing a flare gun has been shot by an Omaha officer.

A police news release says the incident occurred around 8:45 p.m. Thursday in north-central Omaha.

Officers had been dispatched to the home of Madonna Runco. Runco told them her daughter was playing music too loudly in the garage and said the woman, Paula Moen, had a mental illness.

The officers say Moen pulled a knife when they asked her to turn down the music. One of them fired an electronic stun gun at Moen, but it proved ineffective.

The officers say Moen then pointed a flare gun at one of them. One officer fired her handgun, hitting Moen in the chest.

Moen was reported in critical condition at an Omaha hospital.

Authorities say a man born in Kuwait has been convicted of marriage fraud in Nebraska.

A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg (gihlj) says 47-year-old Ibrahim Matari was sentenced to time served and was given 30 days to leave this country.

Prosecutors say Matari came to the United States in 2000 on a student visa and remained after it expired. He and his family lived in Oak Park, Ill.

Prosecutors say he obtained a marriage license with a U.S. citizen in Douglas County, Neb., in August 2009. They married and soon filed a petition to adjust Matari’s status.

Federal officers interviewed them and discovered the sham. The woman, Crystal Foster, has pleaded guilty to harboring an alien and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 7.

A 26-year-old Vermont man caught hauling more than 100 pounds of marijuana has been given Nebraska prison time.

Online court records say Nathaniel Miller was given four to six years at his sentencing Thursday in Lancaster County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest on March 26 to attempted possession of a firearm while possessing illicit drugs. Prosecutors had lowered the charge in return for Miller’s plea.

The Nebraska State Patrol says Miller, of Jericho, Vt., was driving a pickup east on Interstate 80 near Lincoln when he was pulled over on Sept. 3 last year. The patrol says more than 104 pounds of pot was found in packages hidden under the truck bed liner The patrol says a disassembled gun was found in the truck’s camper.

Someone who bought a Powerball ticket at a Seward store can claim his or her $2 million prize.

The Nebraska Lottery says the Powerball ticket with the Power Play option was sold at the Gas N Snaks store on Jackson Avenue in Seward.

Wednesday night’s Powerball numbers were 21, 22, 26, 30, 57 and Powerball 27. The lottery says no one won the jackpot, but the Seward ticket buyer matched the first five numbers.

The lottery says this is the second $2 million Power Play Powerball ticket sold in Nebraska since the game was upgraded in January 2012. Mark Davies, of Bennington, won a $2 million in August 2012.

Authorities in northwest Ohio say one of three teenage boys named in an Amber Alert has been located several counties away and has pointed them to the bodies of the other two.

Ottawa police say the Thursday morning alert about two missing 17-year-olds and a missing 14-year-old was issued after a mother returned to a Putnam County trailer home and found a crime scene. Police and the sheriff have released no details about that scene, the bodies or where they were found. Autopsies are planned.  However, the Toledo Blade identifies the bodies as those of Blaine Romes, 14 and Blake Aaron Romes, 17.

Investigators say one of the 17-year-olds and a missing car were found in Columbus, about 90 miles southeast of Ottawa. Authorities say the teen was detained and told them where the bodies were.

There has been no word on any possible charges.

Whole Foods Market Inc. says labels on a chicken salad and those on a vegan version of the salad were reversed at some of its cold food bars in the Northeast.

Whole Foods says the mislabeled salads — a curried chicken salad and a vegan curried “chick’n” salad — were sold in 15 stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. They were sold on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration noted the vegan salad contains soy, and the curried chicken salad contains egg. It said people who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to soy or eggs run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they eat the salads.

The company, based in Austin, Texas, said no illnesses have been reported.