A man from Pottawattamie County was found guilty Monday in Cass County District Court, on charges resulting from a pursuit that occurred nearly one-year ago. Judge Jeffrey L. Larson found 38-year old Joseph Lee Ray Bartlett, of Council Bluffs, guilty on five counts: Two counts of assault on persons in certain occupations; two counts of criminal mischief in the 2nd degree, and one count of eluding. His sentencing date has not yet been set. Bartlett, who had earlier waived his rights to a jury trial, remains in the Cass County Jail, where has been held since January 10th.

Bartlett was the subject of a July 3rd 2016 pursuit that went through Pottawattamie County and into Griswold on Highway 92. The SUV he was driving was traveling at speeds of up to 90-miles per hour through Griswold and continued east to Highway 71, where Cass County Deputy Ben Bartholomew was waiting with “stop sticks” deployed. The SUV hit the sticks at around 1:30-a.m. and entered a field, came back out of a ditch and rammed into the rear of Bartholomew’s cruiser.

The SUV continued into the intersection at Lyman, where Pott. County Deputies performed a PIT maneuver on the vehicle. The vehicle continued and eventually struck Deputy Bartholomew’s cruiser on the front and nearly struck Deputy Kyle Quist’s SUV. The suspect continued to drive south on Highway 71 for a couple of miles before the vehicle became disabled. No injuries were reported.

Bartlett was taken into custody and transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail, where he’s charged with Eluding with Injury and OWI/1st offense. His jury trial there is set to begin July 25th. Bartlet plead guilty earlier this year in Montgomery County to charges of Burglary in the 3rd degree, and Theft in the 2nd degree. He was given a five-year suspended prison sentence, with credit for time served, plus two-years probation.