They arrived at the courthouse much as authorities say they had been pursued -- together.
Petr Strizheus was delivered for a preliminary hearing to the Kearney County Courthouse at Minden, followed by his alleged accomplice, Aleksandr Voznyuk.
The defendants talked and joked among themselves in the manner of old college pals, but the testimony brought forth by prosecutors gave details of a harrowing high speed chase, with gunshots fired.
Four Nebraska State Patrol officers served as witnesses, recounting the alleged roles of Strizheus and Voznyuk in a high speed chase covering 39 miles at speeds of over 140 miles per hour, with Voznyuk allegedly firing round after round from a Glock 9 millimeter pistol at Nebraska State Patrol trooper Paul Hazard.
After two attempts to pull over the speeding blue Subaru, the suspects drove into a field off Highway 10 near Minden and fled on foot.
NSP deployed a SWAT team, a dog, and an infrared-equipped helicopter and captured Voznyuk, but Strizheus remained at large until the next morning, when he was found shoeless at a computer at Minden's Jensen Public Library.
Thursday, the Kearney County Court found that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to move forward with seven or more felony charges for each defendant. The judge refused to reduce the $500,000 cash bail set for each, which neither defendant has yet been able to pay.
