We now have a preliminary hearing date for a 50-year-old Hutchinson man arrested last month for allegedly being involved in a robbery and beating case that started in Reno County and ended in Saline County.

Judge Joe McCarville was informed Wednesday that William Dale Runyon wanted to have his cases proceed to a preliminary hearing. So, the judge set the hearing for December 5.

Runyon is charged with felony flee and elude, interference with law enforcement in one case and aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery in a second. This involves the case of a man being able to escape the trunk of a vehicle in Salina. That was back on September 21.

The flee and elude case involved sheriff investigators being on the lookout for Runyon since the kidnapping incident.

They got word back on October 10, that he might be at a residence in the 200 block of West 15th. As they approached the black work truck he was in, he backed up in the alley onto Adams and nearly struck vehicles on that street. He then led law enforcement on a chase on Adams and Main, and various side streets. He ended up on west 19th, where he ran the barricades near where officials were working a fatal fire. He couldn’t get through because of the fire trucks, so he stopped and ran from the vehicle. Hutchinson Police detectives were at scene of the fire and took off after him. They were able to stop him in the driveway of a nearby residence.

Runyon is jailed on a bond of 153-thousand dollars and again the hearing on both cases will be on December 5. The state indicates that they may need two hours or more for the hearing.