Police Blotter
December 27-29, 2019
We handled 102 calls for service over this weekend. Here are the calls that resulted in reports.
19122476: On December 27, 2019, at about 2:56 p.m., Corporal Jones responded to a report of Collision Hit & Run. The person reporting the collision believes it happened three days prior in the Albertson's parking lot. Investigating any crime that long after it's occurrence increases the level of difficulty. Cpl. Jones will be working over the next week to try and piece things back together to see if he can identify the suspect. If we're being honest, the chances aren't good, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to try.
19122507: On December 27, 2019, at about 8:44 p.m., Cpl. P. Smith responded to a report of a False ID at the Cowboy Bar. The staff at the Cowboy take their jobs pretty serious and catch a lot of fake ID's every year. They always call us when this happens, which we very much appreciate. In this instance, on top of trying to pass a fake ID, the suspect also became aggressive with the bar staff. Maybe he thought he could bluster his way through. Cpl. P. Smith arrived and made contact, asking the man if the ID was real before digging deeper to give him an opportunity to just be honest. He wasn't and tried to lie. For those fake ID holders out there, you should know that verifying the authenticity of a fake ID is pretty easy. Cpl. P. Smith verified the ID was, in fact, fake and gave the man another opportunity to fess up. He did and the 18 year old Milwaukee, WI man was cited for attempting to use the fake ID to enter the bar.
19122524: On December 27, 2019, at about 10:15 p.m., Cpl. P. Smith pulled a vehicle over because it failed to move over for another stopped police car doing a traffic stop. There are a lot of officers throughout the country that get hit by vehicles on traffic stops. There have been a number of those here in Teton County, not to mention the number of near misses. In one instance, a highway patrolman had to do a flying leap over a car to avoid being injured or killed by a passing car. Cpl. P. Smith contacted the driver and found that he had a felony warrant out of Idaho for his arrest. The 25 year old Jackson man was warned for not moving over, cited for not having a driver's license, and arrested on the warrant.
19122548: On December 28, 2019, at about 7:00 a.m., Officer Ayling responded to a call of threats made by phone. You should know that we investigate and document all threats. Why do we do this? Because thoughts lead to words and words into action. We would rather prevent crime than investigate it afterword. That's why it's so important that the community direct our efforts to potential problems. Sometimes, it only takes a phone call or knock on the door from your friendly neighborhood police officer to put a stop to shenanigans and other poorly thought out behavior. In this case, the suspect was making threats by phone. That's actually a crime in Wyoming. Officer Ayling and Sgt. Phillips are tag teaming this case and are still working on it. We'll let them do their jobs before we release any more information.
19122549: On December 28, 2019, at about 8:06 a.m., Officer Osmond received a call from the family of a man who had died in a hospital in Idaho after being transported from St. John's Hospital in Jackson. Why would we investigate that? To make sure he wasn't the victim of some crime here before being transported. We don't believe there is anything suspicious at this time and believe the man's death is linked to a collision he was involved in a number of days prior in Utah. We are still working authorities in Idaho and Utah to determine what happened.
19122719: On December 29, 2019, at about 7:45 p.m., Officer Shreve responded to the Roadhouse Pub for a male subject who reported being assaulted. He spoke with the man, who reported being struck by a group of people still in the bar. Officer Shreve contacted the group and asked them what had happened. Would you be surprised the altercation was over an ex-girlfriend? Neither are we. The group claimed the man assaulted them and that they were acting in self-defense. These investigations can get complicated when everyone is pointing the finger at each other. Fortunately, Officer Shreve found some witnesses in the bar that corroborated the groups story and that they had acted in self-defense. They weren't interested in prosecution though, so Officer Shreve told the man who'd originally made the call to leave. You can imagine the man wasn't very happy about that turn of events, but Officer Shreve and Sgt. Kellams were able to convince him that while he may not be happy about the outcome, leaving was in his best interest. Good job, guys. Way to use those people skills.
19122721: On December 29, 2019, at about 8:19 p.m., Officer Lancaster responded to a report of possible drug use at the White Buffalo. Guests reported that the occupants in a neighboring room were smoking marijuana. We've had this conversation before, marijuana smells really strong. The smell crawls up a person's nose in the same way skunk smell does and there is no way that odor is going to confine itself to the four walls of a hotel room. It will seep through the cracks, under the door and make itself known to everyone nearby. Officer Lancaster easily found the source of the odor, almost like he had a map to the location. He politely knocked and waited for the occupants to answer. When they opened the door, Officer Lancaster was able to confirm he was in the right location by the marijuana wafting into his face and the marijuana in plain view just inside the door. It's okay to shake your head. We're sure Officer Lancaster was doing the same. He politely asked who the marijuana belonged to and someone fessed up. Officer Lancaster issued a citation to the 28 year old New York, NY man for possessing a controlled substance.
That's it from this weekend, Jackson. Happy Monday!