Crime Clips: Man arrested after false shooting report summons multi-agency response

CASPER, Wyo. — Here is a summary of some of the significant cases filed or adjudicated recently in the Seventh Judicial District of Natrona County.

False Report

A 45-year-old Casper man was arrested last Thursday after reporting that “his son had been shot in the back of the head and there was a person shot in front of the apartments,” according to the charging affidavit. Fourteen law enforcement officers from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Casper Police Department and Natrona County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 1100 block of South Beverly Street, along with Casper Fire-EMS and Banner Wyoming Medical Center.

No shooting victim was found. All of the man’s family members were contacted and they confirmed that they were alive and uninjured, the affidavit said.

Officers found 2 grams of presumptive-positive methamphetamine in the apartment. The man reportedly advised that he had not used “for a while today.”

He pleaded not guilty to breach of peace, use of a controlled substance and false reporting in circuit court on Friday, Dec. 6. Though all misdemeanors, Assistant District Attorney Ashlee Neves asked for a $10,000 cash or surety bond, saying the facts were “very serious” and that a lot of law enforcement resources had been consumed.

Drugs

20-year-old Guernsey native Ashton Newbern was sentenced to six to 10 years in state prison on Dec. 4 by Judge Dan Forgey. Newbern and co-conspirator Quentin Fisher were arrested by state drug enforcement agents at the Sleep Inn on March 19 with 2.6 pounds of methamphetamine and 2,730 fentanyl pills in the room, along with smaller amounts of a cocaine–methamphetamine mixture, psilocybin mushrooms, drug packaging and scales, according to the DCI agent’s affidavit. They also found three semi-automatic rifles in a closet and $4,562 cash and a handgun on Fisher, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in October.

Felony Shoplifting

Casper police say a 19-year-old Casper man fled from Buckle at the Blackmore Marketplace with an armload of merchandise while security was busy trying to stop his accomplice on Nov. 11. According to the affidavit, Michael Odom is identifiable from the surveillance footage leaving with the merchandise. His accomplice is identified as Anthony Santistevan. Both were able to escape and were not located on the scene. Santistevan reportedly dropped the merchandise he was carrying. The merchandise was valued at over $1,300. Odom is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

Attempted sexual exploitation of a minor 

40-year-old Casper resident George Robert Nelson pleaded not guilty to a charge of enticing a minor to engage in explicit sexual conduct before Judge Dan Forgey on Dec. 4.

On June 26, a 15-year-old girl and a guardian went to police station and showed officers a text conversation between the girl and Nelson. According to the affidavit, Nelson asked the girl to “talk dirty” to him and asked for pictures of her after telling her he was in a state of sexual frustration.

Nelson is out on bond and is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty. He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.