Shooting Happened During Pot Deal Gone Bad

This deal went down bad.

Actually it just went down stupid.

Five young men planned to do some business late Thursday night at a garage on Landmark Drive, according to affidavits filed in Natrona County Circuit Court.

Mason Fletcher had the marijuana. Steven Spearman supposedly wanted to buy it. They and Travis Coberly were doing the business inside the garage.

James Haga and Taylor Whiting were waiting outside to back up Spearman if something went wrong.

It did.

Because what Fletcher thought would be a friendly dope deal turned out to be a plan by the others to rob him.

Haga heard raised voices in the garage, running around, and a loud bang.

He raised the sliding door and saw Fletcher apparently attacking Spearman. Haga entered and hit Fletcher in the face.

Fletcher backed up, drew a handgun, and fired three times. Bullets hit Haga in the right upper and lower arm, and right hip. Haga fell, got up, staggered outside, and told Spearman they needed to go.

Spearman hustled Haga into a yellow truck and drove him to the Wyoming Medical Center. Haga walked inside. Spearman took off. Emergency room personnel called the police.

Meanwhile, Fletcher and Coberly ran from the garage.

And Whiting?

He went inside the garage, too, according to the court records. "Once Haga was shot, Whiting was observed cowering behind the vehicle the garage (which was identified as a Dodge Durango). While Fletcher was trying to make his escape from the set-up, Fletcher hit Whiting in the head with the butt of the handgun, injuring Whiting."

Fletcher was now gone and Haga was in the hospital.

At some point, the handgun was dumped at a convenience store on South Poplar Street.

Spearman, Coberly and Whiting drove their vehicles to Whiting's place on East Eighth Street, left them there, and went their separate ways to hide from the cops.

But the hard feelings from the night before must have softened by morning.

Spearman, Coberly and Fletcher were at Fletcher's place at 3550 Gila Bend, which was raided by police and the Natrona County Special Response Team about 10:30 a.m. Friday.

They were taken into custody.

Whiting apparently wasn't hard to find, either.

Spearman admitted the whole deal got messed up, telling police, "Haga made a premature entry which led to Haga getting shot by Fletcher."

Police interviewed the suspects, who initially fabricated stories about "two masked men who entered the garage."

Police retrieved the gun at the convenience store.

They searched houses, vehicles, backpacks with marijuana, and the personal effects of the defendants. For example, Spearman had a .22-caliber revolver, a cigarette pack with a pill of diazepam (Schedule IV controlled substance) and a bag of pot in the jacket he wore at the police department.

By the end of the weekend, the District Attorney's Office could make a case.

Monday afternoon, Spearman, Whiting and Fletcher heard the charges against them in Natrona County Circuit Court.

Coberly hasn't been charged with anything.

Police know where Haga is, but aren't worrying about him, according to the affidavits.

"Due to Haga's current condition and heavy pain medication he was not interviewed for his involvement in the attempted Robbery. Detectives would follow up with Haga and charge him accordingly on a later date."