It took 2 weeks, but Chadron police finally arrested a suspect in a domestic violence case – although a stun gun was needed to control the man.
45-year old Kenneth Kersey was taken into custody May 25 on charges of Felony Domestic Assault, Assault by Strangulation, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver.
When officers tried to arrest Kersey, he struggled with them and tried to flee – bringing additional charges of Obstruction of a Police Officer and Resisting Arrest. His total bond was set at 10% of $50,000.
Sgt Chelsea Stolley says she and Officer Colin Deines responded to a domestic disturbance call May 14 at a residence on the west side of Chadron, but found that the man and woman who’d been in a physical altercation had already left.
Sgt Stolley says she and Deines were able to identify the assailants from witness statements and security video, and that she located the woman the following day and conducted an interview.
Efforts to locate Kersey, the male suspect, were unsuccessful until Investigator Dusty Bryner spotted him on the 25th walking in west Chadron. Stolley and Deines again responded and found Kersey in a local business.
Stolley says Kersey gave her his version of the initial incident, but when Deines told Kersey he was going to have to arrest him, Kersey tried to flee.
The two officers stopped him, but he continued to struggle and keep them from placing handcuffs on him. Stolley finally used her stun gun to gain control.
With the arrest, Stolley and Deines searched Kersey and found what appeared to be meth and several tablets of apparent prescription painkillers.
The Chadron rescue unit was called to the scene to supply medical treatment to Kersey, who refused to ride in the ambulance to Chadron Community Hospital.
Stolley and Deines then took him to the hospital in a cruiser and after treatment to the county jail.