Ellingson pleads guilty, sentenced

Jamestown (CSi) 43 year old Lee Ellingson of Tracy, Minnesota, changed his plea in Southeast District Court Monday from not guilty to guilty.

Ellingson is the man who led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase in southwest Jamestown on March 17, 2015.

He was sentenced Monday in Southeast District Court in Jamestown to serve two years in prison for his crimes.

He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, both Class C felonies. He was also charged with driving while under the influence, a Class B misdemeanor, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor.

Judge Thomas Merrick sentenced Ellingson to serve two years in the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on the the Class C felony charges. He will also serve a year in the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the Class A misdemeanor. He will get credit for 16 days served, and all jail sentencing will be served concurrently. Ellingson will also forfeit the pickup truck he was driving — a 2002 Dodge Ram with a modified engine — and pay more than $12,000 in fines and restitution.

Merrick said the situation that Ellingson put himself in was unfortunate, and he was lucky that no one was killed during the pursuit.

Ellingson said he was sorry for his actions that night.

Previously….

Jamestown (CSi) Lee Charles Ellingson of Tracy, Minnesota will go to trial on November 30, 2015 stemming from charges after he was allegedly pursued by police on March 17 this year in Jamestown.

The 43 year old Ellingson, appeared in Southeast District Court in Jamestown Wednesday with his attorney, Nicholas Thornton, for a motion hearing.

Thornton filed procedural motions acted on by Judge Thomas Merrick at the hearing.

The trail is scheduled to last four days.

Merrick says due to the amount of publicity the case has received in the media, it might take one day to pick a jury.

Ellingson is charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and driving while under the influence of liquor or any other drug or substance, all Class C felonies. He is also charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor.

Reported previously…

Jamestown (CSi) The Tracy, Minnesota man who allegedly led police on a pursuit through southwest Jamestown on March 17, 2015, was in Southeast District Court in Jamestown yesterday, before Judge Thomas Merrick.

43 year old Lee Charles Ellingson, was accompanied by his attorney, Nicholas Thornton of Minnesota, an initial appearance on four charges, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and driving while under the influence of liquor or any other drug or substance, all Class C felonies.

He was also charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor.

Ellingson waived his preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty to the four counts during arraignment.

Ellingson said in court wearing an arm brace, that he has been unable to work as a welder since the chase and shooting. Thornton said Ellingson may need further surgeries for the injuries he received from the shooting.

Stutsman County State’s Attorney Fritz Fremgen said last month that the two law enforcement officers who discharged their weapons into the vehicle Ellingson was driving that night will not face any criminal charges.

Ellingson’s next court date has not yet been scheduled.

Ellingson, allegedly led law enforcement officers from Jamestown Police and the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office and North Dakota Highway Patrol on a chase that started at the Exxon convenience store at 808 20th St. Southewest in Jametown, and ended in the 1000 block of 4th Avenue Southwest, between the Jamestown Motel and Dairy Queen.

Witness accounts and information from law enforcement agencies, indicated that during the pursuit, Ellingson allegedly rammed law enforcement vehicles. When he stopped on 4th Avenue Southwest, Ellingson allegedly tried to run over a police officer. It was at this time that a Stutsman County Sheriff’s deputy and a Jamestown police officer fired their weapons into the vehicle Ellingson was driving.

Ellingson was transported by ambulance to Jamestown Regional Medical Center after the chase ended for treatment of injuries.

He was later flown by air ambulance to a medical facility in Fargo.