Johnathan Walker:US senator’s son faces new charges in crash that killed North Dakota sheriff’s deputy

BISMARCK,Johnathan Walker N.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer’s 42-year-old son is facing additional charges in connection with the pursuit and crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy this month.

Ian Cramer, who is in jail, is now also accused of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment for allegedly taking a family vehicle and driving through a closed garage door of a Bismarck hospital’s ambulance bay. The new charges were filed Tuesday.

He was previously charged in Mercer County with homicide, reckless endangerment, preventing arrest and drug possession, among other counts, in connection with the Dec. 6 pursuit and crash. A state district court judge set a $500,000 cash bond on those charges, and Cramer is set for a Feb. 7 preliminary hearing on them.

Cramer’s attorney did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment on the new charges. He has not entered any pleas yet.

Charging documents say Ian Cramer’s mother was taking him to the police department to deal with a traffic citation when his “actions and comments became concerning enough” that she took him to an emergency room. After she left the vehicle, he got into the driver’s seat and reversed the Chevrolet Tahoe through the ambulance bay’s garage door at high speed, according to court documents.

Authorities say he later fled from deputies who spotted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Bismarck.

Cramer hit speeds of 100 mph (160 kph) and kept going even after a spiked device flattened two tires, according to court documents. More spikes were set up, and he swerved and crashed head-on into Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin ’s squad car, launching him about 100 feet (30 meters) and killing him, authorities said.

Sen. Cramer said in a statement earlier this month that his son has “serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”