A semi driver has been charged with misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in connection with a crash that killed a Platte County sheriff's depputy last August.

A special prosecutor filed the charge against Gene Schlake of Beatrice this week.

The Nebraska State Patrol has said Christopher Johnson was en route to a crash on state Highway 91 last August when his vehicle collided with the oncoming semitrailer truck, which was making a left turn.

Johnson, of Columbus, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Schlake's attorney, Erin Duggan Pemberton, says Schlake maintains that there was no oncoming traffic when he began to turn, and the deputy crested the hill after he was already turning.

Schlake is scheduled to appear in court on March 24.