Wyoming News Briefs

Police shoot man after high-speed chase through downtown Cheyenne

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A high-speed chase through downtown Cheyenne that included multiple shots fired at pursuing officers ended Friday evening with the driver being shot and taken to the local hospital.

According to a news release from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the chase began outside city limits when troopers tried unsuccessfully to stop a stolen vehicle. After winding its way through downtown at speeds close to 65 mph, the chase ended around 6:30 p.m. near the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on East Pershing Boulevard.

No information was available by press time about the suspect or his condition, but police scanner traffic indicated a 20-year-old male had been shot twice by a Cheyenne Police officer.

CPD Sgt. Dan Long confirmed the man had two gunshot wounds and was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, but he didn’t know the man’s name or his age.

Both Highway Patrol and Long confirmed that no law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.

Long said the chase began on Interstate 25 north of town when Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers tried to stop the vehicle, described on police radio as a black Toyota Camry. Long said it’s unclear exactly which path the chase took, but once the pursuit entered city limits, police were asked to help stop the car.

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation has taken the lead over the case, since it includes an officer-involved shooting.

Jackson man to be nominated to oversee parks, wildlife

JACKSON (WNE) — A Jackson man who started his career as a Grand Teton National Park ranger has been nominated for a high-ranking federal job overseeing the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

President Trump announced Friday that he had nominated Teton Village resident Rob Wallace to assume the U.S. Department of the Interior post of assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. The U.S. Senate still must confirm the Evanston native, but Wyoming’s congressional delegation and U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt quickly supported the nomination.

“Rob Wallace has a long track record of leadership on National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service issues,” Bernhardt said in a statement. “He will be a fantastic asset to the Department of the Interior, and I urge the Senate to confirm him quickly.”

Wallace has resided in the valley since 2014. He worked for the 17 years before as a manager of government relations for the energy division of General Electric. Most recently, he has presided over the Upper Green River Conservancy, a Jackson-based group that describes itself as an “innovative partnership of ranchers, energy companies, conservation stakeholders and impact investors working together to ensure the protection of core sage grouse habitat” in the Upper Green River watershed.

Wallace has also served on the boards of Teton Science Schools, the Jackson Hole Historical Society, the Jackson Hole Land Trust and the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources, according to a biography posted by the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, where he is also a board member.

No public defense for Campbell Co. misdemeanors

GILLETTE (WNE) — The Wyoming Public Defenders Office notified Circuit Court judges Wednesday that its attorneys will no longer represent people charged with misdemeanors in Campbell County until more attorneys are hired.

The action was effective Wednesday even before a letter of notification was delivered to judges at the end of the business day.

Public defenders represent people who can’t otherwise afford an attorney to represent them in court.

State Public Defender Diane M. Lozano said public defenders in Campbell County can no longer represent those charged with misdemeanors because of the heavy workload those attorneys now carry.

The decision has put local judges and county officials in a quandary because defendants have a constitutional right to an attorney. It means that if a defendant asks for an attorney, judges must now appoint one from among local private attorneys — a cost Lozano warned could be significant.

“I have informed Governor [Mark] Gordon of this possibility as well as the possibility that paying for private attorneys in Campbell County may well ‘bankrupt’ the entire Public Defender budget,” Lozano wrote.

Lozano said it was a decision that she did not take lightly, but that “I do not believe there is another option.”

Lozano said the public defenders in Gillette are overworked and underpaid. The local office employs 4.5 attorneys who handle the workload of 7.5 attorneys.

The Public Defenders Office will accept misdemeanor cases once it has enough staff to handle the workload, Lozano wrote. But the office is having trouble hiring and keeping attorneys.

Riverton takes first step to reduce deer numbers

RIVERTON (WNE) — The City of Riverton is moving forward with a plan to reduce the urban deer population, beginning with a law against feeding the animals.

Riverton City Council members have directed staff draft an ordinance barring the feeding of certain wild animals in city limits.

Once the ordinance is in place, the city can apply for a permit from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to allow deer reduction to take place outside of the normal hunting season.

Six residents spoke in favor of the plan initially during a council meeting April 16, detailing their own experiences with nuisance deer in town.

One man mentioned diseases deer carry, while another said traveling on Riverview Road at night is “like driving through a mine field.” Michael Gard, who lives on Monroe Avenue across from Willow Creek Elementary School, said the animals make it difficult to maintain a garden.

“There were 20 deer in my yard two weeks ago,” he said, adding, “What they leave and deposit is substantial.”

Another local gardener, Bart Ringer, who lives on Washington Avenue, said the problem has worsened in the past several years.

“Anything that sticks out of a tomato cage is chewed off,” he said.

Councilman Tim Hancock noted that Ringer’s property is close to downtown Riverton, and in the past deer have mostly been an issue on the outskirts of town.

“They’ve really been moving up,” Hancock said.

“I have them up near my house even, which is very residential. (It’s) gotten, I think, worse lately. ... I do think it’s something we need to get moving on.”

Man sentenced to prison for sex abuse in Yellowstone

POWELL (WNE) — A Texas man has been ordered to serve a year in federal prison for sexually abusing a woman in Yellowstone National Park in June, 2018. 

Paul W. Wills III, 33, was sentenced last week on a felony count of abusive sexual contact. Federal prosecutors say Wills sexually touched the woman while she was “extremely intoxicated.” The elements of the crime say the woman was “incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct and was physically incapable of declining participation and communicating her unwillingness to engage in” the sexual contact. 

A sexual assault nurse examiner reported observing some kind of injuries to the victim, according to court documents, which contain few details of the case. 

The crime took place near some employee housing in Mammoth Hot Springs, where Wills had been working for a park concessionaire, said Mark Trimble, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Wills has been in federal custody since July 23, when he was arrested in Bozeman, Montana. 

At last week’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl ordered Wills to serve 12 months and one day in prison. That will be followed by five years of supervised release that will begin with a six-month stint at a residential re-entry center. 

The National Park Service investigated the case.

Woman who led Highway Patrol on high-speed chase appears in court

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The woman who led Wyoming Highway Patrol on a high-speed chase along Interstate 80 that injured two troopers was arraigned Thursday in Laramie County District Court.

Nicole Montano of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, is currently facing two felony counts of aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon, along with five misdemeanors related to her April 2 arrest in Laramie County.

Her trial date for those charges was set for Sept. 16. Altogether, Montano is facing a maximum prison sentence of a little more than 23 years, if convicted.

According to court documents, Montano and Uong refused to stop the morning of April 2 when an Albany County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull them over on eastbound I-80 for a registration violation. As the two fled, a state trooper joined the chase and tried to get them to pull over.

Montano, who was driving, allegedly hit speeds of up to 137 mph while weaving in and out of traffic, trying to avoid the state trooper. She was able to avoid two spike strips laid out on the roadway, but when trying to avoid the third, the car skidded off the road at 100 mph and spun out on the grass.

While trying to get back on the road, Montano struck two Highway Patrol vehicles, injuring those officers before being boxed in.

State troopers found more than $1000 worth of electronic items in the vehicle, including multiple video games that still had security devices attached to them, according to court documents.