Wyoming News Briefs

Man who sang ‘Bad Boys’ during chase faces 18 years

GILLETTE (WNE) — A Gillette man could serve up to 18 years in prison for kidnapping and strangling his wife under a plea agreement reached earlier this month.

Robbie C. Muller, 32, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and strangulation, both of which included a habitual criminal enhancement. He also pleaded guilty to possessing meth in a separate case after police found 28.1 grams of meth in his wife’s pickup that he had recently driven.

Prosecutors will recommend imposed sentences of 11 to 18 years for kidnapping and 10 to 12 years for the strangulation charge, with all sentences to be served concurrently.

Officers got a call around 11:30 p.m. July 26 from a man who said that Muller’s wife called him saying, “He won’t let me out of the car! He just tried to kill me!” according to court documents.

Their 2018 Hyundai Sonata was spotted near the Gurley Overpass and officers tried making a traffic stop. Muller then took off at speeds of up to 65 mph, running a stop sign and veering into the BNSF railroad yard.

His wife later told police that he was singing the famous “Cops” anthem “Bad Boys” while fleeing officers, according to court documents.

The car eventually got stuck on the train tracks and Muller took off on foot. After a brief chase, he turned toward officers with his hands up and said, “Shoot me!” then, “Stop!” according to court documents. He then ran away again, until officers chased him down and detained him near the fire station.

Teenagers plead not guilty in shooting death

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Teenage cousins accused in last summer’s shooting death of a 14-year-old pleaded not guilty last week in Laramie County District Court.

Xavier Sanchez, 18, of Casper, appeared Thursday morning in front of Laramie County District Judge Peter Froelicher. He has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Raymond M. Sanchez, 16, of Cheyenne, is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He appeared Friday afternoon in front of Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell.

Information collected by the Cheyenne Police Department points to the 14-year-old’s death having been the result of a gang-related conflict, or at least a conflict between two families.

According to court documents:

At 1:03 a.m. July 5, Cheyenne Police officers were dispatched to an apartment in the 1600 block of Taft Avenue in response to a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers observed a bullet hole in the door and a .45-caliber brass shell casing near the door.

Officers found a 14-year-old boy, identified as D.B. in the probable cause affidavit, lying on the floor with a large pool of blood to the right of his head. It was later determined D.B. had a suspected gunshot wound to his upper back.

The 14-year-old was pronounced dead by American Medical Response personnel at about 1:20 a.m.

Man arrested after threatening to shoot car dealership workers

GILLETTE (WNE) — A South Dakota man was arrested on a number of felony charges after threatening to shoot employees at Thunder Basin Ford on Thursday afternoon.

Staff at the dealership called police shortly after 3 p.m. to report that a 52-year-old man, David Allen, had threatened to shoot the workers there. He was upset because of something related to his vehicle, said Deputy Chief of Police Brent Wasson.

Four officers and a drug dog responded to the scene. When they arrived, Allen immediately ran north through the dealership’s east parking lot. After running a short distance, he turned around and faced officers. He had a 9-mm semiautomatic handgun, and he cycled the slide, Wasson said.

The officers commanded him to put the gun on the ground, and he complied. He was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of having a concealed weapon, Wasson said.

Allen is currently disqualified from having a gun, Wasson said.

Grand Teton culls 58 mountain goats

JACKSON (WNE) — Grand Teton National Park has concluded a cull of invasive mountain goats, killing 58 with an aerial gunning operation aimed at preventing the goats from competing for habitat with and potentially spreading disease to the Tetons’ isolated native bighorn sheep herd.

“Operations to remove non-native mountain goats from the park are complete,” Grand Teton Chief of Staff Jeremy Barnum told the Jackson Hole Daily on Friday.

The backcountry closure from Cascade Canyon to Berry Creek lifted Friday afternoon.

“Given the terrain it is hard to determine precisely how many mountain goats remain in the park,” Barnum said. “Every mountain goat that was located was removed, but we assume there could be a few remaining in the range.”

Mountain goats, which migrated to the Tetons from the Snake River Range, compete with the bighorns for limited high-elevation alpine habitat and carry diseases that can threaten the native bighorns, which are already cut off from their traditional low-elevation winter range by human development.

The bighorns, also under pressure from backcountry recreation, have lived in the Tetons for thousands of years. The park and its affiliated Bighorn Sheep Working Group have closed certain areas of the park to wintertime recreation and recently asked skiers to avoid other areas where bighorns dwell.

Last week marked the second time Grand Teton contracted helicopter gunners to fly into the park, targeting the invasive mountain goat herd.

Buffalo man charged with vehicular homicide

BUFFALO (WNE) — Prosecutors have charged Robert Bennett, of Buffalo, with aggravated homicide by a vehicle after Bennett was involved in a fatal accident in August, court records say. 

Bennett faces a maximum of 20 years in jail and a fine of $10,000. The charge is a felony. Bennett was bound over to the Fourth Judicial District Court after waiving his preliminary hearing.

According to court documents, Bennett and his wife, Delrae, were westbound on U.S. Highway 16 on Aug. 2 at about 9:20 p.m. Robert Bennett was driving, returning home after a night in Buffalo during which both he and his wife consumed alcohol, according to interviews conducted by law enforcement.

At the time of the crash, the Bennetts were traveling uphill and curving to the left. The vehicle went off the road to the right, and Bennett overcorrected to the left, causing the vehicle to roll. It slid to a stop, upside down, on the shoulder of the roadway, court documents say.

Delrae Bennett suffered fatal injuries to the head in the crash, and Robert Bennett was also injured, according to the affidavit.

Bennett’s blood alcohol level was 0.218%, according to testing at Johnson County Healthcare Center. The legal limit is 0.08%.

A warrant for Bennett’s arrest was issued Dec. 6, and he was released after posting a $10,000 cash bond.

Wyoming, other states agree to hydrogen hub

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wyoming joined the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to coordinate and develop a regional clean hydrogen hub. 

Together, the states will work to compete for a portion of the $8 billion allocated in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act toward four or more regional hydrogen hubs. 

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon highlighted the importance of four states working together. 

“Our coalition represents a shared understanding and vision for the future of hydrogen in the Mountain West region,” he said in a release. “Importantly, it expands the resources beyond what each state has individually and reaffirms Wyoming’s commitment to supply hydrogen to consumers through the Western states.” 

“With estimates that Wyoming is home to as much as 25% of the nation’s naturally existing commodity and energy feedstock for the production of hydrogen, and with one of the most established carbon management infrastructure systems in the world, Wyoming is incredibly well-positioned to contribute to this coalition,” said Glen Murrell, executive director of the Wyoming Energy Authority. “Collaborating with our neighboring states only reinforces our commitment to developing a strong hydrogen economy.” 

The signatory states will work together in developing a Western Inter-State Hydrogen Hub, with supporting facilities in each state, in response to the RFP that the U.S. Department of Energy is expected to release in May.

Deal for sale of ski area falls through

PINEDALE (WNE) — The sale of White Pine Ski Area has fallen through.

Over a month after the initial sale agreement of the ski area was reached, the two parties involved in the deal confirmed to the Roundup that an agreement couldn’t be reached on finer points of the sale.

Alan Blackburn, co-owner and operator of White Pine Ski Resort, said the decision for Audrey and Kyle Odermann, owners of Lakeside Lodge, to withdraw their offer had nothing to do with U.S. Forest Service permits.

He clarified the special use permit issued to White Pine by the Forest Service cannot be sold or traded, and that the permit is voided if the business or its assets are sold. Had the deal been completed, the new owners would have needed to apply for and obtain a new permit to own and operate White Pine.

When the sale was initially announced Audrey Odermann said in a press release the deal was contingent on U.S. Forest Service permits. 

The Blackburns have emphasized summer activities at White Pine in recent years. A successful business partnership was shared with Lakeside Lodge through those events, as visitors attended events at White Pine and stayed at Lakeside. It was clarified through communications with Blackburn and Odermann this week that the two businesses maintain their working relationship despite the collapsed sale.

So, for the time being, movement at White Pine will be done with its current ownership and staff.