As a former cop, Happy Valley HOA Vice President Jim Rothenbuhler immediately recognized what was going on when new neighbors moved in at 1226 Brundage Road, right next door.
Cars were coming and going at all hours of the day and night, Rothenbuhler told Cowboy State Daily.
“There were as many as a half a dozen cars in and out, all during the night,” he said. “And we had a lot of people wandering around at different times of the night, sometimes coming onto other people’s porches and stuff.”
Rothenbuhler had also seen an assortment of pots and pans going into a mobile home that had been recently stripped bare.
“We called it the ‘Breaking Bad’ motor home,” Rothenbuhler said. “That got broken into several times. Other druggies were breaking in, trying to steal the stuff.”
With his background in law enforcement, Rothenbuhler knew just what to do about the home that went with that “Breaking Bad” motor home. The house itself was in violation of county codes and seemed to have become a magnet for trouble.
So, he called the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office to let them know what was going on. Five weeks of surveillance of the home gave law enforcement enough evidence for a drug bust in early August. Concurrently, Rothenbuhler also worked with the county on the home’s many code violations.
All the efforts paid off for the Happy Valley neighborhood Thursday, with the demolition of a house that neighbors said was attracting squatters and drug dealers to their community, terrorizing the neighborhood and making things far less than happy in Happy Valley, about 15 miles west of Cheyenne.
‘Kind Of A Mess’
Randy Smith, another of the property’s neighbors, said he first noticed real problems at the residence a couple of years ago, although he added that things had always been “kind of a mess” for some time before that.
“I was picking up a lot of trash over the years,” he said, indicating that since the owners didn’t have regular trash removal, they were just dumping their trash into piles on the property. That attracted rats and other vermin, and the wind was blowing things around onto neighbors’ property.
Squatters had moved on to the property shortly after its original owner died, Rothenbuhler said. Derelict couches, appliances and other such things started to appear outside in the yard.
“The original owner had put in an 800-square-foot trailer,” Rothenbuhler said. “And that’s how it all got started. You were supposed to have at least 1,200 square feet.”
After that, the man started adding onto the trailer in a do-it-yourself kind of fashion.
“Each addition was just cobbled up with scraps and stuff,” Rothenbuhler said. “So, it was not really habitable. It was not construction like a regular home. It wouldn’t have passed inspection. He was just doing all the work himself.”
Cigarette Lighter Searches At 2 A.M.
After the man died, squatters came and lived in the home for a time, Rothenbuhler said, and the property’s condition continued to deteriorate, attracting worse and worse elements to the neighborhood.
Some neighbors told Cowboy State Daily on condition of anonymity that they felt terrorized in recent years, with strangers roaming the neighborhoods at night.
“I saw a car just stop in the middle of the road one night and turn their lights off,” a woman we’ll call Lacy said on condition of anonymity. “Like, what were they doing that for? It was just creepy.”
A woman on foot with dark hair who lived at the home was frequently seen walking the neighborhoods at night, in search of a cigarette. Sometimes, she even knocked on doors to ask for a light — at 2 or 3 in the morning.
“A neighbor told me he woke up in the middle of the night one night and saw her outside,” Lacy said. “When he asked her what she was doing, she’s like, ‘Oh I was just looking for some cigarettes.’
“I have heard stories about her going to other people’s homes, and knocking on the doors at all hours of the night. It was crazy, crazy stuff.”
Rothenbuhler, whose front yard looks out onto the property, had his family sleep in the back while he slept in the front with guns locked and loaded, just in case.
A house in a subdivision about 15 miles west of Cheyenne that had attracted squatters and drug activity, and had terrorized neighbors for years, has finally been raided and torn down. (Courtesy Photo) 
A house in a subdivision about 15 miles west of Cheyenne that had attracted squatters and drug activity, and had terrorized neighbors for years, has finally been raided and torn down. (Courtesy Photo) 
A house in a subdivision about 15 miles west of Cheyenne that had attracted squatters and drug activity, and had terrorized neighbors for years, has finally been raided and torn down. (Courtesy Photo) 
A house in a subdivision about 15 miles west of Cheyenne that had attracted squatters and drug activity, and had terrorized neighbors for years, has finally been raided and torn down. (Courtesy Photo)
‘Get down! Get down! Get Down!’
The morning of the big drug bust at the property started out like any other for Happy Valley neighbors.
Then, into the still air, shouts of “Get down! Get down! Get down!” rang out over the neighborhood.
“It was pretty weird,” Lacy said. “That’s the first time I ever experienced something like that.”
Laramie County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Aaron Veldheer confirmed for Cowboy State Daily that a raid took place at the location in early August.
“It’s an active and ongoing investigation still,” he said. “Several people have been arrested, but they haven’t all been sentenced yet.”
Veldheer said the scene was worked by several law enforcement entities, including the LCSO. Because of the ongoing investigation, Veldheer said he could not share many details about the arrests.
When Lacy looked over at the property, she saw two people in handcuffs on the ground, and flashing lights and police all around.
Like many of her neighbors, she couldn’t believe the problem was finally being addressed. She had expected it to take much longer, or perhaps never get cleared up at all.
Smith, too, said he was surprised the situation was handled as quickly as it was, including the subsequent demolition of the home.
“The county, the sheriff’s department, everyone was working together with the HOA,” he said. “We never thought it would happen.”
Now that the home has been demolished, Rothenbuhler said the owner has plans to put up a new modular home, one that meets all county and HOA codes. He’s also heard from a few homes surrounding Happy Valley, wishing they, too, were in an HOA.
“We have people right up to our property lines, and they wish they were in an HOA,” he said. “An HOA is really no better than the people who serve it, just like an insurance policy. It all just depends on who is willing to step up to the plate.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
