NEBRASKA MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY SIX YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR ASSAULTING FEDERAL OFFICER DURING HIGH-SPEED PURSUIT

RAPID CITY, S.D. — A Nebraska man has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal officer during a high-speed vehicle pursuit that began on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and continued into Fall River County.

Cody Dittman, 36, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to assault on a federal officer. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler imposed the sentence on August 31, 2026. Dittman was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

A federal grand jury indicted Dittman in May 2025. He pleaded guilty on May 20, 2026, establishing his criminal responsibility for the federal assault offense without proceeding to trial.

The case stemmed from a May 2, 2025, traffic stop attempt involving officers with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety.

Federal prosecutors said Dittman refused to stop and instead fled, triggering a high-speed pursuit across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The pursuit eventually moved beyond Pine Ridge and into Fall River County as law enforcement agencies worked to stop the fleeing vehicle.

During the pursuit, officers attempted to deploy spike strips in an effort to disable Dittman’s vehicle.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dittman responded by swerving his vehicle directly toward law enforcement officers positioned along the roadway while they were deploying the strips.

That conduct formed the basis for the federal assault charge that ultimately resulted in his conviction and prison sentence.

The case involved conduct that extended across multiple jurisdictions, requiring coordination between tribal, federal, state, and county law enforcement agencies.

The investigation was conducted by the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Fall River County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay prosecuted the case for the District of South Dakota.

The federal prosecution also highlights the heightened danger created when a fleeing driver uses a vehicle against officers attempting to terminate a pursuit.

Spike-strip deployments require officers to position themselves close enough to the roadway to place the equipment in the vehicle’s path, leaving little margin for error when a driver deliberately changes direction toward them.

In Dittman’s case, prosecutors did not describe the incident as an accidental near-miss. The government’s account states that he swerved directly toward the officers as they attempted to bring the pursuit to an end.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation frequently requires overlapping jurisdictional cooperation because tribal, federal, state, and county agencies may become involved as incidents cross reservation boundaries or move into surrounding counties.

This prosecution demonstrates how quickly a traffic enforcement encounter can develop into a multi-agency federal case when a pursuit crosses jurisdictions and officers themselves become targets of dangerous conduct.

Following sentencing, Dittman was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his prison term.

The sentence closes a federal case that began with a refused traffic stop and escalated into a high-speed pursuit across Pine Ridge and into Fall River County, ending with a conviction for assaulting a federal officer and a prison term of nearly six years.

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