Senator’s son pleads not guilty to charges in crash that killed North Dakota sheriff’s deputy

WASHBURN, N.D. (AP) — U.S. senator’s adult son. Kevin Cramer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to homicide and other charges related to a Dec. 6 crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy.

Ian Cramer, 43, waived his preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty to charges of homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing apprehension, reckless endangerment and fleeing an officer, as well as three misdemeanor drug charges and other minor offenses of driving under suspension and possession of marijuana.

A jury trial is scheduled for July. Cramer was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter, which was later upgraded to homicide.

Ian Cramer’s court appearance lasted only a few minutes. He answered yes and no to procedural questions from District Judge Bobbi Weiler. He spoke briefly with his public defender outside the courtroom after the hearing, then entered an elevator with two sheriff’s deputies.

Bismarck police said Ian Cramer’s mother took him to the hospital due to mental health issues. Court documents say he slipped into the driver’s seat of his parents’ vehicle after his mother got out and reversed into the closed door of the hospital’s ambulance garage. Court documents say he then fled from deputies when they confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles from Bismarck.

Cramer reached speeds in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h) and continued even after a spiked device punctured two tires, according to court documents. More spikes were installed and Cramer swerved, then crashed head-on into Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin’s patrol vehicle and threw it about 30 yards , authorities said. Martin, 53, was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

In March, Ian Cramer pleaded not guilty to separate charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the events at the hospital. A jury trial is scheduled for June.

Senator Cramer said his son “suffers from serious mental illness that manifests itself in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”

Cramer was scheduled to undergo a criminal responsibility evaluation in March at Jamestown State Hospital in connection with both cases.

He is being held at the McLean County Jail in Washburn on $500,000 cash bail.