The Nebraska State Patrol helicopter played a big role in tracking a speeding motorcyclist across Lincoln late last night. Patrol Spokesman Cody Thomas says it began around 10:30 when a trooper was conducting a traffic stop near 66th and O.
“He saw a motorcycle run a red light at over 80 miles per hour, but the helicopter was already in the air so the trooper did not have to pursue,” Thomas says. The helicopter tracked the motorcycle to an area near 84th and O.
The trooper arrived and attempted to make a traffic stop, but the motorcycle rider fled. The NSP pilots already had eyes on the rider so the trooper did not pursue out of concern for public safety. “The same motorcycle a short time later was seen going well over 100 miles per hour on North 48th Street,” Thomas says. “Another trooper attempted a traffic stop, but again the rider refused to yield.”
The NSP helicopter tracked the motorcycle until it eventually entered a parking garage at Bryan Health East Campus. Troopers located the motorcycle and impounded it, but the rider was not found. Thomas says the NSP helicopter has been conducting routine patrols around Lincoln over the past few months and they saw the benefits of that on Tuesday night.