Trucker involved in hit and run with trooper ruled unfit to stand trial

LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) - A judge has ruled that the man accused of leading law enforcement officers on a six county high speed chase is not competent to stand trial.

Kasey Martinson, 56, of Sanborn, North Dakota, is charged in Lancaster County Court with assault on an officer using a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an injury accident and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest.

A Lancaster County judge last week ruled Martinson unfit after reviewing a court ordered mental health evaluation. However, the judge’s ruling left the possibility that Martinson could be fit to stand trial in the future and ordered a competency status hearing May 24 for another review. In the meantime, Martinson is being transferred to the Lincoln Regional Center for more mental health evaluation and treatment.

In a press release, the Nebraska State Patrol said a trooper stopped Martinson’s semi near Waverly December 15 after he was seen driving recklessly. The patrol claims that Martinson then backed his flat-bed trailer into the trooper’s cruiser causing a head injury to the trooper. He then fled the scene westbound on Interstate 80 and was arrested 2 1/2 hours later about 20 miles west of Kearney.

The injured trooper was treated and released at a Lincoln hospital for minor injuries. Martinson was treated at CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney, but was later transferred to the Lancaster County jail, where he’s being held on $500,000 bond.

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