The 42-year-old son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the events leading up to the chase and crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy in December, but he still has not entered a plea on the more serious consequences. murderous…
BISMARCK, N.D. — The 42-year-old son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the events leading up to the chase and crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy in December, but he still has not entered a plea to the main murder charge. and flight charges.
Ian Cramer appeared in court remotely Monday to face charges that he stole a family car and crashed it into the garage door of a Bismarck Hospital ambulance on Dec. 6. He will be asked to enter pleas to murder and reckless endangerment at a later hearing. , avoiding arrest and drug possession charges in Mercer County. Cramer remains in jail on $500,000 bond.
His lawyer declined to comment Monday.
Investigators have said Ian Cramer’s mother took him to the police station to deal with a traffic ticket in early December when she became concerned enough about his “actions and comments” to take him to the emergency room. After she got out of the vehicle, he got behind the wheel and reversed the Chevrolet Tahoe through the ambulance’s garage door at a high rate of speed, according to court documents.
When he was later spotted in Hazen, about 70 miles northwest of Bismarck, authorities said Cramer had fled from officers.
According to court documents, Cramer reached speeds of 100 mph and kept going even after a spiked device flattened two tires. More spikes were deployed, and he swerved and crashed head-on into Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin’s patrol car, launching him about 100 feet and killing him, authorities said.
Senator Cramer said in a statement after the fatal crash that his adopted son “has serious mental disorders manifesting in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”