Accused of racing barreling into Riverton, Wyoming, at 100 mph and slamming into a police car, a Wyoming man could face up to six years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
The eluding case of Dalton Neaus Enos, who turns 33 this year, rose to the felony-level Fremont County District Court on Wednesday after Enos was charged last week.
The investigation started about 4 a.m. April 30, when Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Tyler was patrolling in Riverton.
Tyler heard from dispatch and from listening to his scanner that the Wind River Police Department, which is stationed on the Wind River Indian Reservation bordering the town of Riverton, was asking for help with a car chase, according to an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
Wind River PD Officer Havens had tried to pull over a suspect in a Dodge Durango who’d been traveling 77 mph on in a 45 mph zone in the 600 block of Ethete Road on the reservation, reportedly.
But the Durango did not stop, instead bolting for Riverton with Havens in chase, the affidavit says.
Deputy Tyler was reportedly driving on Riverton’s south border when he watched Havens chasing the Durango as it left 17 Mile Road and rushed north onto Riverton’s biggest business thoroughfare, Federal Boulevard.
The Durango was going 102 mph in the 30 mph zone, Tyler’s radar reportedly told him. Then the Durango performed a U-turn, and Havens crashed into its driver’s side rear quarter panel, the document says.
Chase Not Over Then
The affidavit says the Durango turned right onto Spencer Street, a downtown residential nook. Then it stopped, with Tyler’s vehicle flashing its lights directly behind it.
Tyler hopped out of his patrol vehicle and pulled his firearm while approaching the driver’s side. Havens simultaneously approached from the passenger side, the document says. Havens pulled his taser and fired it through the open passenger door.
Tyler did not know if the taser stunned the driver or not, the affidavit says.
Tyler holstered his gun, grabbed hold of the male driver — who was later identified as Enos — and “ripped him out of the vehicle and onto the ground,” the document says. Then someone (the document doesn’t say which agent) handcuffed Enos and secured him into Tyler’s patrol vehicle.
Reeked Of Alcohol
Tyler reportedly noticed Enos’s speech was slurred, the man reeked of alcohol, and a bottle of vodka lay on the floor of the Durango just in front of the passenger seat.
The affidavit says the deputy tried to warn Enos of his Miranda rights so that Tyler could run Enos through field sobriety tests, but Enos said, “I don’t give a f***.”
Tyler tried again to give Enos his Miranda rights, and Enos cut him off with that same declaration, again, says the document.
Enos later agreed to a breath test and gave a breath-alcohol content reading of 0.211%, allegedly.
The Fremont County Attorney’s Office charged Enos with one count of aggravated fleeing (punishable in this instance by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines), one count of having a second DUI in 10 years (punishable by between seven days and six months in jail; between $200 and $750 in fines), and one count of reckless driving (up to six months in jail and $750 in fines).
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
