A Nebraska deputy sheriff was seriously wounded Thursday while serving arrest warrants on a Big Springs, Nebraska, man who had been charged with attempted first-degree murder.
Neil Scott Stretesky, 66, was killed in a mid-day confrontation with Deuel County deputies, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
Deputy Michael Hutchinson, 52, of Chappell, a 25-year law enforcement veteran, underwent surgery in Ogallala before being flown by medical helicopter in serious condition to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colorado.
The Patrol said the investigation into the shooting continues.
The deputies were serving arrest warrants on Stretesky. One was for violating the conditions of his bond for assault and attempted murder in Sedgwick County, Colorado. The other was for a misdemeanor offense out of Keith County, Nebraska.
Stretesky was arrested in October 2014 in Julesburg, Colorado, after beating his 90-year-old father with a hammer. When four witnesses attempted to leave the building with the injured man, Stretesky met them outside with a rifle in hand and threatened to shoot them all, according to reports at the time.
When Sheriff Randy Peck arrived at the scene, Stretesky pointed his rifle at the sheriff. Peck ordered Stretesky to drop the rifle or he would be shot. Stretesky pointed the rifle at Peck a second time before complying with the sheriff's order and dropping the weapon.
Stretesky was able to get out of jail twice after the hammer incident with his father, both times after his bond was reduced in Logan County, Colorado.
Initially, Stretesky's bond was set at $1 million. But, a month later, Judge Charles Hobbs lowered Stretesky's bond to $15,000 cash, according to a story in the Julesburg Advocate.
About six months later - in May of this year - Stretesky was involved in a minor vehicle accident in Ogallala, where alcohol was involved. The judge in Colorado then sent him back to jail, after he determined that he had violated the terms of his release. His new bond was set at $500,0000.
Five months later, Stretesky once again asked for his bond to be reduced. Hobbs agreed and lowered it to $30,000 cash, with strict orders that Stretesky wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his location and alcohol consumption and that he be restricted to his home, only to be allowed out one hour a day to shop for groceries or see a doctor, according to the Julesburg Advocate.
On Oct. 22, Stretesky left jail and returned to his home in Big Springs, where Thursday's confrontation occurred with the sheriff's deputies.
Stretesky has had numerous run-ins with law enforcement, including at least two arrests for driving under the influence and assault. He was an electrician who operated a small business and reportedly owned farmland.
Big Springs in a town of 400 on Interstate 80 near the Colorado state line. Julesburg is 11 miles west of Big Springs on I-76.
Nebraska law requires a grand jury be convened anytime someone dies while in custody or in the process of apprehension.
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