Wyoming News Briefs

Three Cheyenne police officers on leave after suspect is killed

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A call to the Cheyenne Police Department for a domestic dispute ended in the police killing the suspect Friday evening, CPD said in a news release Monday afternoon.

The man was identified Monday as 47-year-old Cheyenne resident Patrick Flores.

The shooting occurred Friday, March 8, when police officers were dispatched to calls for a domestic disturbance with a firearm, which the agency said was around 6:18 p.m.

Dispatchers told police that he was “shooting the firearm and his wife was heard screaming.”

The call was “near the 5200 block of Fishing Bridge.”

According to the CPD, officers approached the front door of the residence and “made multiple announcements, commanding the occupants to exit,” with no response.

An officer broke down the front door of the residence upon hearing a woman scream, the release said.

Officers said they “encountered Flores, who was shooting his weapon, and returned fire.”

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is looking into the matter, and an investigation is ongoing.

The CPD has placed three officers on administrative leave.

Campbell County Sheriff's Office recognized for response to Sheridan standoff

GILLETTE (WNE) — Members of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office were recognized with the county’s Star Worthy Award for the work they did to help with the standoff in Sheridan last month.

On Feb. 13, Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee was killed while trying to serve a trespass notice to a man. The suspect then barricaded himself in a home, which led to a standoff with law enforcement.

The Sheridan Police Department asked Gillette for assistance, and the Gillette Police Department sent its special response team to Sheridan. The Sheriff’s Office also got involved, sending a K-9 officer, a tactical support deputy, a two-man sniper team and the bomb squad.

In total, eight members of the Sheriff’s Office went to Sheridan that day.

Last week at the Campbell County Commissioners’ regular meeting, they were given the county’s Star Worthy Award, which recognizes a group of individuals working as a team to better the county.

Sheriff Scott Matheny said these eight men performed professionally in tough winter conditions but pointed out that it wasn’t just that group that’s deserving of recognition.

“They will tell you, and so will I, that when something like this happens, it affects the whole agency,” Matheny said. “We had officers step up and fill in slots vacated by responding officers.”

One deputy even canceled his vacation to step in and help.

Their work continued after the standoff was over. On March 1, when Krinkee was buried, the Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard participated in the service, and more than 20 patrol vehicles took part in the procession.

“We have the blessing of having a safe and orderly community, we expect that, and not everybody in this country has that,” said Commissioner Jim Ford.

Mexican citizen imprisoned for ‘huge amounts of drugs’

POWELL (WNE) — After illegally entering the United States, a Mexican man became one of Park County’s larger drug dealers, authorities say.

Jose De La Cruz Guerra Torres is now set to be deported from the country — but first, he must serve an eight- to 10- year prison sentence for three felony drug crimes.

Guerra indicated that he came to the U.S. in 2021 for “the financial opportunity to support his family and to pay off debts,” his defense attorney said at a hearing last fall.

For roughly a year-and-a-half, Guerra said he lived in Powell, working in area sugar beet fields and at a Cody meat processor.

However, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents concluded that Guerra was also earning money as “a large-scale distributor of controlled substances.”

Powell police officers arrested Guerra for drunk driving in December 2022 and found more than $12,000 worth of cash in his car. Inside his North Cheyenne Street home and another vehicle, DCI agents seized not only more cash, but nearly a half-pound of meth, close to a half-pound of cocaine and 110 counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl.

The street value of the drugs easily reached into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Guerra pleaded guilty to three felony counts of possessing drugs with intent to deliver, but at a November sentencing hearing, he disputed being a dealer.

“Yes, I did have the drugs with me, but I did not do anything with them,” Guerra said through a translator in Park County District Court, adding, “My language doesn’t permit me to sell things … I can’t speak English, so I can’t offer drugs to people.”

His denials are undercut by court filings, however.

Cheyenne man charged with killing girlfriend

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A 68-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after a months-long investigation into the death of his girlfriend, who Laramie County Sheriff ’s deputies say was dealing with Alzheimer’s disease.

Police found the woman, Charrie Watkins, dead in their home Nov. 8, after the man charged with killing her, Robert E. Green, called 911 to report her death.

Green is charged with second-degree murder and strangulation of a household member.

A probable cause affidavit written by Laramie County Sheriff ’s Office Sgt. Detective Ryan Martinez started with the response to Green’s call that day.

Martinez said that, at approximately 10 a.m., a patrol sergeant was dispatched to that location and “observed Green as intoxicated.”

Green led the deputy to a bedroom in the home, where Watkins was lying dead. The responding deputy told Green the coroner and law enforcement would investigate Watkins’ death, which he protested.

“Green told [the sergeant], without being questioned, ‘I didn’t do nothing to her,’ ‘I didn’t kill her’ and ‘I didn’t choke her,’” the affidavit read.

Watkins’ autopsy was completed by a doctor in Larimer County, Colorado and a report was given to LCSO in late January. The doctor’s opinion, per the report, was that Watkins “most likely died of manual strangulation,” suggesting a homicide.

Detectives contacted Watkins’ daughter in February, who told them that Green was a beneficiary on a certificate of deposit in Watkins’ name in the amount of $32,000. She also suggested that Green had access to other funds belonging to Watkins.

Martinez obtained a search warrant for accounts at Riverstone Bank on Monday, which corroborated this account and showed several transfers of funds into his personal accounts. It also showed that Green was, in fact, a beneficiary of a certificate of deposit.

Man found dead on East A Street in Casper

CASPER (WNE) — Police officers, responding to a call about an unconscious man in the 700 block of East A Street in Casper, found 28-year-old Chance Tiyller Arias of Casper dead on Tuesday night.

A release from the Casper Police Department says that officers found the man “lying on the floor with injuries consistent with a physical alteration” just before 10 p.m. at the Topper Motel.

Casper-Fire Emergency Services and Banner Wyoming Medical Center medics joined the officers and pronounced Arias as deceased.

Additional law enforcement and the Natrona County Coroner’s Office responded “over the next several hours,” the release stated.

A suspect was interviewed and taken into police custody, police said.

According to filings available at the Natrona County Courthouse, the Star-Tribune identified the suspect as James Franklin Mavigliano.

He was charged with murder in the second degree and possession of a controlled substance. He confessed to the murder while in custody.

Arias was formally identified by Natrona County Coroner James Whipps. The release states that the investigation determined that this was an isolated event.

Man calls 911 to report nonexistent fire, gets arrested for drug use

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 46-year-old man who called police Thursday night to report his trailer was on fire was arrested for drug use after it turned out that there was no fire.

The man said he was in his fifth-wheel trailer in the 1000 block of West Second Street when he was trying to get cellphones working. He said he was putting one together when it started to melt and smoke, Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson said.

He also said that the outside of his trailer was soft due to fire. But when officers and firefighters arrived, they found no fire, no smoke and no melted phones, Wasson said.

Firefighters walked through the trailer and did not detect any elevated temperatures inside.

The man showed signs of being under the influence of drugs, and he admitted to using meth two days earlier and that he still felt the effects, Wasson said. No drugs were found in the trailer, and the man was arrested for use of a controlled substance.

Barrasso, Lummis applaud Judge Kelly Rankin’s Senate confirmation

CHEYENNE (WNE) — On Friday, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyo., applauded the Senate for unanimously confirming Judge Kelly Rankin to be U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Wyoming.

“Judge Rankin has dedicated his career to serving the people of Wyoming and upholding the Constitution. He will make an outstanding U.S. District Court Judge for Wyoming,” Barrasso said in a Wyoming Senate delegation news release. “Judge Rankin’s roots and service to our great state run deep. His impressive record and knowledge of the law will make him a great member of the federal bench.”

“As a dedicated public servant, Judge Rankin has honorably served the Cowboy State as U.S. Attorney and Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Wyoming,” Lummis said in the release. “I can think of no one more fitting to serve as a U.S. District Judge for Wyoming, and I am confident he will continue to uphold the Constitution and serve Wyoming well.”

On Jan. 24, Barrasso and Lummis introduced Judge Rankin before his confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The White House announced Judge Rankin’s nomination last year.