INDIANOLA -- A wild run through the hills southwest of McCook Sunday night led to a court appearance Tuesday and a stay in jail for a former Indianola man.

Joseph D. Sitzman, age unavailable, pleaded not guilty to charges of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest and driving while intoxicated (first offense) during his hearing Tuesday before Red Willow County Judge Anne Paine.

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Nebraska State Patrol troopers Jeff Van Stelton and Kayla Farrell arrested Sitzman after Sitzman led officers from the State Patrol, Red Willow County Sheriff's Department and McCook Police Department on a chase over county roads about eight to 10 miles southwest of Indianola.

Van Stelton said a report came in about 8:30 p.m. that someone was driving erratically through ditches and fields and was suspected to be driving drunk.

Law enforcement officers converged on the area, and for a couple hours, followed tracks and suspected sightings.

Officers found Sitzman's license plate and parts of his bumper in a road ditch.

Van Stelton said that Sitzman's passenger suffered minor nose and forehead injuries.

Van Stelton said that he and Farrell arrested Sitzman as they pulled into Indianola about 11:35 p.m. and saw Sitzman pushing his brown Chevy pickup off the street after it had died.

Van Stelton's report to the court indicates that Sitzman wanted to know "how many officers he outran."

During Sitzman's arraignment, public defender Ryan Wilcox was appointed to represent Sitzman. Judge Paine set bond at $2,500/10 percent. A bench trial was scheduled June 3, at 9 a.m.

Sitzman remains in the Hitchcock County jail in Trenton.

Sitzman is on parole (in Buffalo County, where he lives) after having been convicted of first degree assault for the beating of a Curtis man on July 27, 2003, near Stockville.