Police Arrest Two People Involved in SUV Theft Near Downtown Lincoln

Lincoln Police cruiser. (Courtesy of Jeff Motz/KFOR News)

Tony Smith (Courtesy of Lancaster County Corrections).

Shernell Henderson. (Courtesy of Lancaster County Corrections).

LINCOLN–(KFOR May 10)–Two people are in jail on a string of charges, after they stole a vehicle Tuesday morning from the area of 13th and “D” Street.

Lincoln Police Sgt. Chris Vollmer says one officer saw the 2015 Chevy Equinox on 11th Street between “B” and “C” Streets, where a traffic stop was attempted a block away and the vehicle took off. The vehicle was observed a second time on Williams Street between Van Dorn Street and Sheridan Boulevard, but again fled the stop.

Officers received help from Nebraska State Patrol’s AirWing, observing the vehicle as it traveled around the city. State troopers then deployed stop sticks in the area of 32nd and Apple. Both 40-year-old Shernell Henderson and 39-year-old Tony Smith fled the SUV near 40th and “Y” and were arrested at a home off of 40th and Apple.

Henderson was arrested for assault on an officer, resisting arrest and criminal mischief. Smith was arrested for another DUI (three prior convictions), operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, sex offender registration violation, driving during revocation, willful reckless driving, false reporting, possession of an open alcohol container in a vehicle and refusal to submit to a preliminary breath test.