Man sentenced to 2-4 years for car chase, DUI

Bryan Red Bear, who led law enforcement on a 25-minute car chase in February that ended after a Nebraska State Trooper performed a tactical vehicle intervention, pleaded guilty to two charges in Cheyenne District Court on Tuesday and asked Judge Derek Weimer to proceed directly to sentencing.

While a pre-sentencing report is often ordered, leaving a month or more between when a defendant is found guilty and a sentence imposed, Weimer consented.

Red Bear, 28, of Sidney, pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle to flee arrest and driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury – both felonies.

Red Bear was sentenced to 24-48 months of imprisonment for the DUI charge and 12-36 months for the fleeing the police.

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, according to a release from the Cheyenne County Attorney’s Office.

In addition, his driving privileges were revoked for 15 years for the DUI and two years for fleeing police – also to run concurrently.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on Feb. 24, a state trooper spotted a Jeep exiting the Sidney Wal-Mart parking lot that matched the description of a vehicle sought by Cheyenne County sheriff’s deputies.

The trooper attempted to pull the vehicle over, but it did not stop.

“[The trooper] pursued the vehicle on county roads and U.S. Highway 385 for approximately 25 minutes before performing a tactical vehicle intervention maneuver on the vehicle,” the affidavit stated. “The vehicle then entered a field and troopers and deputies lost sight of the vehicle. Troopers and deputies set up a perimeter to contain the subjects.”

Two individuals were observed near the vehicle, which had wrecked in a field, but ran as law enforcement offices approached, according to the report.

“Troopers and deputies searched for the subjects for approximately two hours before [a deputy] observed the subjects walking near where the vehicle had crashed,” the affidavit states. “Troopers and deputies then took both subjects into custody.”

The passenger in the vehicle was transported to Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff for facial wounds on the advice of medical staff at Sidney Regional Medical Center, according to the affidavit.