The mother of a Gillette, Wyoming, man who is facing a felony kidnapping charge for allegedly holding a woman in a car while driving 80-100 mph around town says he’s completely innocent.
Mark F. Kiser, 27, was charged Thursday with one felony count of felonious restraint, one misdemeanor of driving under the influence and another misdemeanor of THC drug possession. The charges stem from allegations that he forced a woman to ride with him in a Chevy SUV while he drove drunk and recklessly through town.
His mother, Julie Huston, told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that she believes the felonious restraint charge, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines, is unfounded.
“He’s totally innocent (of that one),” said Huston. “That girl cried wolf.”
Huston said she was planning to bond her son out later Friday.
Gillette Police Department Deputy Chief Brent Wasson declined to comment on Huston’s statements.
The alleged victim did not immediately respond Friday to a message request for comment.
Court Docs
The evidentiary affidavit filed in the case says Gillette Police Department Officer Brett Nasset was patrolling on Warlow Drive near Gurley Avenue at about 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, when a white 2020 Chevy SUV with Wyoming plates passed him.
The SUV was traveling much faster than Nasset, who was driving 43 MPH in the 40 MPH zone, Nasset wrote in the affidavit.
“The female passenger was yelling and waving out her window, trying to get my attention,” Nasset wrote. “As I got closer to the vehicle I could hear the female screaming ‘help!’”
Nasset turned on his emergency lights. He watched the female victim try to get out of the vehicle, the affidavit alleges.
The driver came to a stop, and Nassett spoke with Kiser, whom he’d just spoken with 30 minutes prior at a liquor store and bar. Kiser had consumed several drinks and was “causing issues” at the liquor establishment so that the staff wanted him removed, Nassett wrote.
At that point, the woman who was with Kiser (the same one later seen in the SUV) promised to drive him home, the document adds.
Arrest
Kiser denied being drunk and refused to take field sobriety tests, the affidavit says.
Nasset characterized Kiser as being lethargic with bloodshot and watery eyes, and smelling of alcohol. The officer wrote that he searched Kiser and found a THC vape pen with about 1 gram of a substance that tested presumptive positive as marijuana.
Officers spoke with the woman who’d been in the front seat, and found her “extremely emotional and distraught,” wrote Nasset.
She said after they left the first business, Kiser started yelling at her to take him to another bar. Worried about what he’d do if she didn’t comply, she took him to the bar and they argued further, the affidavit relates from her interview.
Kiser got into the driver’s seat, and the woman “went to the passenger side and got in to try and stop him from driving drunk,” the affidavit says.
The document says the woman asked to be taken home, but Kiser went down random streets, refused to take her home and sped up to between 80 and 100 mph.
“(She) told and aske Mark to let her out of the vehicle multiple times, but he refused and continued driving,” the affidavit says, adding that the woman said she was “extremely scared” during the drive.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
