Ian Cramer – son of US Senator Kevin Cramer – was involved in a car crash that left a sheriff’s deputy dead during wild 100mph police chase.
What Happened?
Officer Paul Martin, 53, was hit and launched 100ft into the air while attempting to halt the car chase allegedly led by Cramer at around 4.30pm on December 6.
He was later pronounced dead.
Ian Pleads Not Guilty to Homicide
Ian, 43, appeared on Wednesday at court and entered a not guilty plea to felony charges, waiving his right to a preliminary hearing.
He has been charged with nine counts; homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment and fleeing an officer, as well as three misdemeanor drug charges and other low-level offenses of driving under suspension and marijuana possession.
How the Police Chase Started
Police gather that Cramer was driven by his mother, Kris, to a hospital over concerns about his mental health.
When Kris got out of the SUV, Ian took the wheel and drove through a door to get out of the enclosed ambulance bay at the hospital’s emergency department.
Court heard how Cramer reportedly hit speeds over 100 mph and kept going despite two tires flattened by a spiked device
Over an hour later, a deputy in neighboring Mercer County spotted Cramer and the Chevrolet Tahoe in Hazen, a community about 70 miles northwest of Bismarck.
Then a chase began and the SUV crashed into a Mercer County sheriff’s vehicle that was parked along a state highway, per the North Dakota Highway Patrol in a news release.
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A deputy, later identified as Officer Paul Martin, was standing behind the parked vehicle and preparing to deploy a tire deflation device to end the chase.
The impact of the crash pushed the parked vehicle into the 53-year-old deputy, resulting in his death.
The accused was evaluated at a hospital and then jailed. He had initially been charged with manslaughter but it was later upgraded to the homicide count.
The first-term Republican senator wrote at the time that his son ‘suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.’
