A 19-year-old man wanted in connection with an officer shooting near 19th and Knox on December 17th is in custody. The Lancaster County Fugitive Task Force arrested Braulio Blazio Tuesday morning in the same area where the shooting took place.
LPD Acting Police Chief Michon Morrow says Officer Joseph Kernan was conducting a traffic stop that day, but the driver took off and pulled into an apartment complex parking lot. Officer Kernan pursued the Hyundai as it turned into a dead end. The driver then reversed, hit a retaining wall and slammed into a parked vehicle.
She says Officer Kernan was out of the cruiser at the time. “The driver then accelerates in the direction of our officer. Two rounds were fired, striking the vehicle,” before the car hit some larger landscaping rocks and drove off.
The vehicle was later found abandoned on Sunday night near 9th and Manatt in northwest Lincoln. Blazio was booked on a number of charges, including use of a weapon to commit a felony, resisting arrest with a deadly weapon and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest.
(Photo: Lincoln Police Department)