Horse's death leads to DUI conviction

KEARNEY — A Kearney man has been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol after allegedly dragging a horse behind a stock trailer near Sumner in July.

Tyler Brockman, 22, pleaded no contest Wednesday in Buffalo County Court to DUI with a blood-alcohol content of more than .15. In exchange for his plea, a second charge of not having a valid registration was dismissed.

The legal blood-alcohol limit to drive in Nebraska is .08.

Judge Graten Beavers ordered Brockman to undergo an alcohol evaluation prior to his December sentencing hearing.

Brockman faces an array of punishment, including probation, jail time, license revocation and installation of an ignition interlock in his vehicle.

A felony charge of cruel neglect of an animal resulting in death is pending in Dawson County.
Brockman had been at the July 4 rodeo in Sumner and was leaving town when someone saw he had left his horse tied to the stock trailer. Brockman allegedly dragged the horse about a mile before he was stopped east of Sumner. The horse was put into the trailer.

Around 11 p.m. that day, a Buffalo County deputy sheriff stopped Brockman in Buffalo County near 175th Road and Odessa Road near Amherst and arrested him for DUI.
Brockman is free on bond.

The horse was found dead July 6 on a farm on V Road north of Funk in Phelps County. The horse’s exact cause of death is not known.