A Dawes County grand jury has determined that a Minatare man committed suicide after an incident with police near Crawford in late June, and that law enforcement did no wrong in the incident. 

Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug says the grand jury into the death of 40-year old Chad Sorensen met last Thursday in Chadron and returned a finding of No True Bill. 

Nebraska law requires a grand jury to be convened whenever anyone dies in custody or while being apprehended, but the proceedings and testimony presented to the grand jury remain sealed. 

The initial investigation into Sorensen’s death found that he’d brandished a pistol at Dawes County Sheriff deputies in downtown Crawford just after 11:00 pm on June 26th. The city contracts with the county for law enforcement services. 

Sorensen then led officers on a roughly 15-minute, low-speed pursuit around 35 mph before stopping in the southbound lane of Highway 2/71 approximately two miles south of Crawford. 

Deputies, the Nebraska State Patrol, and the Chadron Police Department set up a perimeter around the vehicle and attempted to make contact with Sorensen. 

After getting no response, officers protected by a tactical shield approached the vehicle and found Sorensen dead of what was later determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.