California man caught after high-speed chase in central Nebraska, patrol says

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A man was arrested Wednesday after a chase in a stolen vehicle near Grand Island, the Nebraska State Patrol says.

Around 12:45 a.m., a trooper tried pulling over a Jeep for going over 100 mph on Interstate 80, just southeast of Grand Island.

The patrol said the driver — 33-year-old Thomas Hernandez of Fullerton, California — refused to stop, and the trooper started a pursuit.

Hernandez’s vehicle was disabled after driving over stop sticks southwest of Grand Island, according to the patrol.

He ran away, and authorities used a thermal drone to find him hiding in a ditch along I-80, the patrol said.

The Jeep was later found to be stolen in Ohio.

Hernandez was arrested on suspicion of flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving and theft by unlawful taking.

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