A Shoshoni, Wyoming, woman questioned about a badge she was wearing while trying to board a plane claimed she was transporting evidence for the FBI, police say.
Shantel Wheeler, 31, was charged Friday with impersonating a police officer, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and $1,000 in fines.
Wheeler was arrested Wednesday at the Central Wyoming Regional Airport, Riverton Police Department Capt. Wes Romero confirmed Monday to Cowboy State Daily. She is now released on bond, her court file indicates.
Wheeler had a ticket to board the plane leaving Riverton for Denver, then to proceed by another plane to Washington, D.C., Romero related from the police report.
But, the captain said, she was wearing a badge on her hip, which prompted questioning from an airport police agent.
“And she had, like, a letter with an FBI letterhead saying she’s transporting evidence,” Romero said. “The badge was actually a security officer badge; that’s what clued the officer in on something (not being) right.”
Wheeler said she was an officer with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office tasked with transporting DNA evidence for the FBI, the captain related from the report.
“We reached out to Campbell County, they said they had no one by that name working for them,” said Romero.
He said Wheeler urged TSA agents not to search her bag because it contained confidential evidence.
Ultimately, airport authorities searched her bag and found nothing illegal in it. She had no weapons and didn’t seem drunk or intoxicated, Romero said.
She eventually admitted her letter and badge were fake, but “was still adamant that she was transporting evidence for the FBI,” said Romero.
“We don’t even know” what all that means, the captain added.
He said there wasn’t an indication that she was in some kind of danger and noted she already had a lawfully-purchased plane ticket.
Cowboy State Daily was unable Monday to find a phone number for Wheeler. The male who bailed her out of jail did not return to a phone call and text message request for comment.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
