Two men already in the Laramie County detention center on charges of drug dealing are now accused of robbing a man of his cookies because he owed one of them for a jailhouse drug deal.
A 63-year-old inmate allegedly bartered a pill off another inmate, but then didn’t pay the dealer in coffee as promised, so the dealer’s accountant attacked the buyer and stole his cookies, court documents allege.
The case rose to the felony-level Laramie County District Court on Friday.
Dakota Birch, 25, faces two felony robbery charges, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison, on claims he attacked the older man and stole his cookies.
Brady Mitchell, 32, also faces two felony robbery charges on claims he oversaw the attack because the older inmate owed him coffee in exchange for a pill.
Though Birch’s case has advanced to the higher court, Mitchell’s is still at the Cheyenne Circuit Court. He’s scheduled for a May 24 preliminary hearing.
Cookies, Now
The evidentiary affidavit in the case says the older inmate bought a $4 bag of cookies from the jail vending machine about midday April 30. As he grabbed them, Birch allegedly lunged at the older inmate and tried to snatch the cookies out of his hand.
The older man pulled away, so Birch lunged again, causing the cookies to spill across the floor, the document says.
Video footage reportedly corroborates this account, also depicting Birch grabbing the older man “violently” by the shirt to pin him inside the vending machine area, then striking him in the torso.
The older man sustained a scrape to his chest, reportedly.
“You still owe me, bitch,” Mitchell allegedly called out as he returned to his cell.
What They Said
Inmate accounts indicated that Mitchell had given the older man a “piece of medication” the morning of April 27 to help the older inmate sleep.
Video footage reportedly depicts Birch giving something to the inmate that morning.
But Mitchell wanted a $4 bag of refried beans in exchange, the document says.
The older man allegedly refused to make that payment, so Mitchell upped his price to a $9 bag of coffee.
Video footage reportedly shows Mitchell talking to the older inmate and pointing to coffee in the vending machine that morning.
Birch, who was described as Mitchell’s “accountant,” was surprised that the older inmate wasn’t paying. He was directed to take the cookies as payment, the affidavit alleges.
But Birch later told investigators he was sorry for attacking the older man, and added that if he had actually wanted to hurt him, he would have swung harder, says the document.
Mitchell told investigators he didn’t understand his Miranda rights, so they didn’t ask him questions. But when he reviewed the report against him, he claimed that he didn’t shout “you still owe me,” but that he shouted a profane insult instead.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
