BROKEN BOW, Nebraska — A 3-year-old girl abducted from Ohio was rescued and her alleged captor arrested in Nebraska after a high-speed chase Saturday, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
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The chain of events started in Columbus when a 27-year-old man, later identified as Diego Revilla Gonzalez, visited a woman and her child at their home Friday. Gonzalez was then accused of getting into an argument with the woman and sexually assaulted her, according to court records viewed by our news partner WBNS-TV in Columbus.
Gonzalez then took the woman’s 3-year-old child and left in a white GMC pickup truck, the station reported. Court records also indicate the woman had a protection order against Gonzalez.
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Columbus police notified the state troopers in Nebraska Saturday they had information Gonzalez and the child were on I-80 in Nebraska and were believed to be traveling west, a spokesperson for the Nebraska State Patrol said in a media release.
The GMC truck, driven by Gonzalez, was spotted on I-80 near Overton, Nebraska, which is about 200 miles west of Omaha and nearly 1,000 miles from Columbus.
State troopers attempted to stop the truck but Gonzalez took off. Speeds reached over 100 mph and he was passing other cars on the shoulder, which led Nebraska state troopers to end the chase citing safety concerns for the child in the truck, the spokesperson said.
The truck was spotted about 50 miles away in Callaway, Nebraska where troopers were able to deploy tire deflation devices. The pursuit continued and state troopers attempted to deploy more tire deflation devices. Gonzalez then drove off the road and in the direction of the state trooper attempting to deploy the tire deflation device, the spokesperson said. The state trooper was able to jump out of the way and avoided being hit.
The truck eventually stopped after it crashed through a fence and into a field where Gonzalez was taken into custody. The 3-year-old girl was found uninjured inside the truck. She was checked out by medics, medically cleared, and placed into protective care until she could be reunited with her mother.
Gonzalez was arrested on charges including flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, child abuse, attempted assault on an officer, and numerous traffic violations, state troopers said. He was booked into the Custer County Jail where he remains booked. It was not immediately clear if he’ll be brought back to Ohio to face charges.
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