A man accused of threatening to kill Ford mechanics in Gillette for not fixing his car fast enough now is sane enough to face prosecution, authorities say.
David Allen, born 1970, faces six felony charges in Campbell County District Court:
Three charges of aggravated assault, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Two charges of possessing a deadly weapon with unlawful intent, each punishable by up to fives years in prison and $1,000 in fines.
One count of carrying a concealed weapon unlawfully, punishable by up to two years in prison and $2,000 in fines.
Gillette Police Department agents arrested Allen more than a year ago, Feb. 24, 2022.
Allen spent about a year in the Wyoming State Hospital, with mental health professionals trying to rehabilitate him so he could understand his prosecution, according to his court file.
A Suspect, Cops And A Dog
Gillette Police Department Officer Troy Cyr rushed to a Ford shop on West 2nd Street in Gillette at about 3 p.m. that day after hearing that a suspect was threatening employees with a firearm.
An employee flagged Cyr down and pointed to the east side of the dealership, where a man stood between two cars.
“I yelled and asked his name,” Cyr later wrote in the case evidentiary affidavit.
David Allen hollered his name back, but didn’t approach Cyr, though Cyr asked him to. Instead, Allen turned his back to officers and started walking away, the affidavit says.
Officers told him to stop, and he started jogging.
Officer Andrew Lucus, his K-9 partner Bruno, and Cpl. Jamison Norlander chased Allen to the far north end of the shop.
In The Chamber
Allen turned to face Lucus and Norlander, reached into his right coat pocket and drew a black handgun, the affidavit alleges.
With his left hand he racked the slide, loading one round in the chamber. An existing round already in the chamber fell to the ground in the process, says the affidavit.
All the police agents drew their weapons and shouted to Allen to drop the gun.
Allen held the gun in his right hand in what Cyr called a low ready position. But after about three seconds, the affidavit says, Allen dropped his gun on the ground near his right side.
Agents ordered him to get on the ground, belly-down, and Allen complied.
Lucus held Allen at gunpoint while Cpl. Jeremiah Wagner and Norlander handcuffed Allen.
Allen struggled, “until he was fully secure,” says the affidavit.
Fix My … Car
Agents took Allen to jail while Lucus spoke to employees in the Ford shop.
One employee, Bill Walter, said he was talking with Allen, explaining that the man’s car would be fixed as soon as possible, the affidavit says.
Allen got frustrated and walked toward Walter, within inches of his face.
“Fix my f–ing car or I’ll blow your head off,” Allen said, then reached into his coat near his left breast, the affidavit alleges.
Allen quickly pulled his hand out of his coat, the document continues, and flinched toward Walter.
Then Allen walked away, still repeating, “fix my f–ing car or I’ll blow your head off.”
Walter locked the door when Allen passed through the front door.
Wrenching Over Here
Bryce Smith, a mechanic at the dealership, watched Allen get “in Walter’s face” yelling, the affidavit relates from Smith’s interview.
Smith kept eyes on Allen after the latter got locked out of the building. When Allen came back to the shop bay doors, Smith watched him through the bay-door windows.
Allen paced, the affidavit says.
Smith told him to “cool off.”
“I’m going to f–ing shoot you if you don’t give me my keys,” said Allen, the affidavit alleges.
I Did The Math
The affidavit says Allen gave an interview at the jail after agents read him his Miranda rights.
He said he exercised his rights of self-defense by leaving the building instead of having a confrontation. When police officers engaged him outside, he said he exercised his Second Amendment right, and right to self defense.
Five police officers attacked him, Allen said, and when they chased him he believed they were going to shoot him, so he drew his weapon, the affidavit says.
But then he did the math and realized there were five of them and only one of him, and he wasn’t going to win, so he dropped his gun.
“And (he) believed it was still self-defense and he did nothing wrong,” wrote Cyr in the affidavit.
The discussion ranged to “things that did not happen in Gillette,” Cyr continued, such as police running him out of the Shell food station.
Allen emphasized the Second Amendment and the Patient Bill of Rights involving forced prescription.
“The interview continued to spiral out of control by Allen making racial comments and starting an argument with the other inmates,” wrote Cyr.
Allen has an indefinite federal firearm restriction for violating an earlier protection order, the affidavit says.
Let’s Try This
Gillette Circuit Court Judge Wendy Bartlett ruled March 29, 2022, that Allen lacked the mental fitness to proceed in his prosecution based on a Wyoming State Hospital report, according to the case file.
Bartlett ordered State Hospital personnel to determine whether they could treat Allen, the nature of treatments undertaken so far, what progress had been made, and Allen’s needs for future treatment and likelihood that he could be restored to competency.
State Hospital personnel were allowed to treat Allen with anti-psychotic medications, if necessary.
More than a year passed.
In a hearing May 22 of this year, Bartlett proclaimed Allen competent to proceed with his case and ordered him brought back to the Campbell County Detention Center.
She transferred his case to the felony-level Campbell County Circuit Court on Friday.
Allen listed his address in Havre, Montana, and his occupation as self-employed artist in a court filing from last year.
Allen’s prosecution is ongoing.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
