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Four-county chase, failure to register lands McCook man in prison
McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook man who led law enforcement on a four-county chase in November 2017 and failed to register an address change as a sex offender was sentenced to prison and jail time Monday in Red Willow District Court.
Judge David Urbom ordered that Samuel Joseph Yeager, 34 years old, serve two years with the Nebraska Department of Corrections for the sex offender registry violation, a Class IIA felony, in addition to 12-month post-release supervision. Urbom gave Yeager credit for 110 days already served.
When Yeager is done serving the state sentence, he’ll serve time in Red Willow County jail on convictions of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest and driving under suspension.
On Nov. 16, 2017, Red Willow County sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop Yeager on an active arrest warrant for failing to register a new address as a convicted sex offender, a registry ordered for 15 years after a 2004 conviction of third-degree sexual assault. According to court records, Yeager failed to report address changes in May 2012 and July 2014 in Phelps County, and then in Red Willow County. He had not reported to probation since August 2017. A felony arrest warrant was issued on Nov. 9, 2017.
After deputies tried to stop Yeager at the corner of West Fourth and C in McCook on Nov. 16, he left town and drove west and north on county roads at speeds up to 80 miles an hour, through Red Willow, Frontier and Hayes counties and into an abandoned farmstead in Lincoln County, where he was taken into custody without incident. The pursuit involved officers from the McCook Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol and officers from Red Willow, Frontier, Chase and Lincoln county sheriff’s departments.
Judge Urbom ordered one year in county jail on the flight to avoid arrest conviction, a Class I misdemeanor, and 60 days in jail for driving under suspension, a Class III misdemeanor, these two sentences to be served concurrently. Yeager was also fined $100 for drug paraphernalia possession. A charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle was dismissed.