Wauneta, Ne - On Wednesday, October 23, 2024, at 6:30 am, Chase County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call regarding a domestic assault that had occurred in Wauneta, NE. Sergeant Justin Mueller was dispatched to the scene where the assault that occurred in the late hours of October 22nd into the early morning hours of the 23rd. Once on scene Sergeant Mueller contacted the female victim and conducted an investigation and learned that the suspect, Brandon O’Neil, 33, of Wauneta, had fled the scene prior to law enforcements arrival.
During the investigation it was discovered that the female victim was assaulted the previous night while an infant was present. O’Neil also denied her the ability to leave the house or call for help, with a firearm involved.
Eventually the next morning, the victim was able to make an escape from the domestic assault and run on foot to a neighbor’s house. The female victim and infant child were able to safely leave to a relative’s house. Sergeant Mueller searched for O’Neil northwest of Champion where he was supposed to be working. It was discovered that O’Neil failed to show up for work that morning. Efforts continued throughout the morning to locate O’Neil. Around 1:30 pm, Sergeant Justin Mueller and Deputy Browning split up to cover a larger area while looking for O’Neil.
Sergeant Mueller located O’Neil at the intersection of 321 AVE and 736 RD, driving a four-door white Chevrolet pickup. Sergeant Mueller attempted to make a traffic stop on O’Neil, who fled at a high rate of speed East on 736 RD. With speeds reaching 100 plus MPH, Sergeant Mueller continued to pursue. Deputy Browning posted up further East on 736 AVE attempting to deploy stop sticks, but was unsuccessful when O’Neil turned onto a trail road, continuing his high speeds. The high-speed pursuit continued on unpaved roads, crossing north of Highway 6.
During the pursuit O’Neil lost his right rear tire and was driving on the rim of the pickup and continued to travel at speeds in excess of 75 MPH on gravel roads. At one intersection, O’Neil nearly collided with another vehicle. Eventually O’Neil came to a stop in the middle of a field. O’Neil exited his vehicle and was swiftly taken into custody. O’Neil was transported to the Lincoln County Jail in North Platte where he was booked for several charges including Domestic Assault, False Imprisonment, Possession of a Firearm to Commit a Felony, Child Abuse/Endangerment, Flight to Avoid Arrest, Willful Reckless Driving and multiple traffic infractions.
O’Neil was out on Bond for a previous Domestic Assault case, which had been revoked once before, and another Motion to Revoke Bond has been filed in that case. O’Neil’s bond for the new charges has been set at $50,000.00, 10% with various conditions.