Cab driver facing sexual assault charge in Kearney County

MINDEN, Neb. (KSNB) - A Minden man is scheduled to be arraigned in Kearney County Court next week for a felony charge of first degree sexual assault.

The charge stems from an incident reported to have happened on July 22, where a woman says 58-year-old Michael Schelling took her in his cab from Kearney to Minden and sexually assaulted her.

According to court documents, Kearney Police contacted Minden PD on July 23 about a sexual assault being reported by a patient in the emergency room of CHI Health Good Samaritan.

One day later, during a forensic interview, the victim told authorities that she contacted Schelling, a cab driver from Buffalo Cab, to pick her up from her job in Kearney Friday evening (July 22) and take her to another location in town.

She also said she had taken approximately 22 Lyrica pills causing her to remember only parts of what had happened. The pills are described as pain relievers for nerve damage and seizure medication. WebMD said the pills can cause passing out and trouble breathing.

The affidavit said the victim told Schelling she wanted to go to a location in Kearney before she “passed out in the cab.” She said when she woke up she was in Minden.

The victim in her 30s told police she felt “dizzy” when arriving to the home.

The court document said the victim remembered a woman being at the house and giving her two pills to take. She also said that the suspect gave her a Coke that tasted “funny” and “like meth, a chemical taste.”

The affidavit goes on to when the victim describes waking up to Schelling on top of her, assaulting her.

She told police during the forensic interview that she couldn’t fight him due to the amount of medication in her system, but said she yelled and screamed for him to get off.

The victim woke up around 9 a.m. on July 23 where she took note of her surroundings that she later reported to police. She made her way to the clinic in Minden and later to Good Samaritan in Kearney.

Following an investigation, Minden Police arrested Schelling on the felony sexual assault charge. He is due in court at 9 a.m. on August 4.