Wyoming Man’s Truck Gets Seized, Stored, Sold — Court Says ‘Not Our Circus, Not Our Tow Truck’

a Wyoming man lost his truck to the black hole of tow-yard purgatory, and the Wyoming Supreme Court says there’s nothing they can do except shrug sympathetically from the bench.

It all kicked off in 2021, when cops got a tip from a confidential informant who had allegedly broken into a black Ford pickup belonging to Scott Bressette and stolen 15 grams of meth from the center console. Yes, the informant reported his own theft to police, and he also said there was another 65 grams of meth left in the truck.

Deputies staked out the truck, called in a drug dog, and hauled the Ford off to the evidence bay. After a warrant and a full search, law enforcement discovered the substances in the truck were not drugs. Around that time, Bressette had an active warrant out for his arrest. When agents contacted him he initially ran, but was soon placed under arrest. Agents found meth and heroin on his person.

The same day, Bressette was charged with possession of controlled substances, possession with intent to deliver, and interference with a peace officer. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession and was sentenced to a short, mostly suspended prison sentence followed by two years of probation.

With nothing illegal left inside the truck, officers “returned” the truck by handing it off to A1 Towing.

Fast forward to 2022: fresh out of jail, Bresette discovers his Ford is sitting in A1 Towing’s lot, and the ransom is a jaw-dropping $14,000 in storage fees. Bressette didn’t have 14 grand lying around, so the tow company eventually auctioned his truck.

Bressette marched into court asking for his truck back—or at least $20,000 in damages for the Ford and the stuff inside. The district court replied with a polite legal chorus of: “We can only return your truck if the State still has your truck. And they don’t.”

He appealed. The Wyoming Supreme Court heard him out, nodded thoughtfully, and and affirmed that they couldn't give him back something they didn't have.

As for his plea for money damages? He learned you can’t sue the government for cash unless you follow the Governmental Claims Act, which he reportedly did not.

The Court told him he can still file a separate civil suit for damages. They even suggested it might be the better route.

But as far as the criminal case goes, the Ford was seized on suspicion, cleared of wrongdoing, lost to storage fees, and now cruising Wyoming’s highways under some new owner.