A 46-year-old Lincoln man faces felony false-imprisonment and domestic-assault allegations after police say a woman was assaulted and forced into an SUV near downtown Lincoln. LPD Police officers were sent to the area of 1st and P Streets shortly after 3:30 p.m. following a report of a disturbance.
LPD says officers did not find an active disturbance when they arrived. Investigators then interviewed witnesses and examined surveillance footage. “Through witness statements and a review of video surveillance, officers determined that a female victim had been assaulted by a male suspect and then forced into a black Ford Expedition that did not have license plates,” LPD Lieutenant Chris Weber tells KLIN News.
He says police examined previous calls for service involving similar vehicles and used that information to identify the woman. “That information also led investigators to identify a possible suspect, 46-year-old Tate Wright of Lincoln,” Weber says.
Officers and investigators continued searching for Wright and the woman while reviewing digital and forensic evidence. “Their efforts eventually led them to the area of North 56th and Superior Streets, where officers located the Ford Expedition seen in the surveillance video unoccupied in the parking lot of a nearby hotel,” Weber says.
Police contacted people inside a hotel room that investigators said had been rented by the woman. Officers arrested Wright after what police described as a brief struggle. The woman was found and taken to a Lincoln hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Wright was taken to the Lancaster County Jail and cited for 1st-degree false imprisonment and domestic assault. LPD credited witnesses and the officers and investigators involved for quickly identifying and locating the people involved.