CASPER, Wyo. — Here are some details on recent law enforcement calls and criminal case hearings in Natrona County this week. Information was obtained from hearings in circuit court, Natrona County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kiera Hett and reports filed in the Seventh Judicial District.
Eluding — Approx. 7 p.m. Saturday, April 19
As of Wednesday, a man with a warrant remains at large after fleeing from a vehicle pursued by NCSO deputies and Casper police, according to NCSO spokesperson Kiera Hett.
Hett said a deputy in the Robertson Road area spotted a truck whose registered owner was known to associate with a man with a criminal warrant. The vehicle sped away after an attempted traffic stop. Hett said the truck drove through a field and back onto the streets. Residents alerted law enforcement that the truck had parked on Whispering Springs Road and that the passenger had fled through backyards. Law enforcement did not find him, but the driver was arrested for reckless driving, interference with a peace officer and eluding.
Accident – 9:29 p.m. Saturday, April 19
According to the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, one patient was life flighted for injuries after a motorcycle crash on Gas Plant Road just south of Midwest.
DUI Crash – Sunday, April 20
Judge Nichole Collier said a 37-year-old defendant was lucky after he pleaded guilty to driving drunk and going off a switchback on Casper Mountain Road. The Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who responded the night of Sunday, April 20, wrote that the man’s truck was found at a steep angle backed up against a tree. The man was able to get out, and the trooper smelled a flavored alcoholic beverage. He reportedly let the trooper know he wasn’t going to perform well on the standardized field sobriety tests.
A case of Coors Banquets was found in the truck, and the man admitted to drinking about nine of them. He blew a .192 on the breath test. He said he went out driving alone on the mountain because he’d been fighting with his wife.
Assistant District Attorney Meridee Choma said the man had no known criminal history. He was given six months’ suspension, a year of supervised probation and $850 in fines for DUI and careless driving.
Eluding
A 22-year-old Casper man got 10 days’ jail and the remainder of six months’ suspension after pleading guilty to speeding around central Casper and eluding the officer who tried to pull him over. According to the report, the officer clocked the defendant doing 49 mph in the 30 mph zone around East 12th Street and Kenwood around 10 a.m. Friday, April 18.
The vehicle reportedly continued speeding and made aggressive lane changes as the officer tried to catch up. The suspect ran several stop signs before pulling off Beverly Street and parking in the lot at the Casper Senior Center. He refused to get out until more officers showed up, the report said.
He reportedly said he fled due to not having insurance. He pleaded guilty to having no auto insurance, eluding, speeding and interference.
A Factual Basis
23-year-old As’sher Pettry didn’t try to deflect responsibility when pleading guilty on Monday to petty theft, interference with a peace officer and possession of methamphetamine.
“I went into the store and stole some ice cream. A cop showed up and I ran, and they tackled me. And I had a meth pipe on me,” he told the judge when pleading guilty.
“That about sums it up,” said Assistant District Attorney Pat LeBrun.
Casper Police Department Sergeant Jason Whittler responded to the Loaf ‘N Jug on Lennox and 2nd streets around 10:21 a.m. Sunday and spotted the suspect on foot. Pettry refused commands to stop and jumped a fence into a backyard, where he was finally arrested by Whittler, according to the report.
“Mr. Pettry should know very well that when law enforcement has reason to stop you, and you don’t cooperate and you try to get away, that’s bad,” LeBrun said in court.
Pettry was sentenced to five days in jail, with the remaining year suspended and one year of supervised probation. He is also ordered to repay $9.39 for the tub of Talenti Sea Salt Caramel Gelato found unopened on the ground along the path he fled. The ice cream was thrown away at the police station.
Criminal Entry
35-year-old David Prowley will spend another 30 days in jail for reaching into a vehicle and squeezing a 13-year-old girl’s shoulder to the point of causing pain and leaving finger marks last November, according to Assistant District Attorney Meridee Choma’s summary of the case. He was charged with battery and criminal entry (for leaning into the open vehicle window) and was issued a summons to appear in court, but he failed to appear. He was arrested on the bench warrant a month ago and has been in jail on a $2,500 cash or surety bond.
Prowler explained in court on Wednesday that he had been outside and fighting with his girlfriend when “some people pulled up on us. … I leaned into the vehicle to tell ‘em to get the f— out of there. Sorry, I’m just telling you, I accidentally reached into the vehicle.”
“And did that harm them?” asked Judge Cynthia Sweet.
“Yeah, I guess, I was drunk,” he replied.
Prowley’s public defender, Steve Mink, said, “Your honor, we’re not contesting that he touched somebody, that it was reckless, and there was pain.”
