The federal government is prosecuting an Oregon pilot on claims that he used his Jeep to attack a traffic flagger in Yellowstone National Park last year.
The pilot, conversely, says he was trying to rush around a construction zone to address a personal emergency and the flagger jumped in front of his Jeep.
If David Tyler Regnier is convicted of attacking a government employee, he could face up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, says a grand jury indictment filed in November.
He’s scheduled for trial May 19 in the Cheyenne headquarters of the U.S. District Court for Wyoming.
On Wednesday, Regnier’s attorney Ryan Wright of The Wright Law Firm, filed a motion accusing the federal government of withholding “material” evidence.
The Scene
Wyoming-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Cook and Wright offer differing descriptions of the Sept. 18, 2024, incident in Yellowstone National Park.
Three flaggers, including one court documents call “J.W.,” were directing traffic at Canyon Junction inside the park that day because the intersection was partially closed due to construction, says a March filing by Cook.
Regnier was waiting in a long line of traffic. He “exited his line, drove in the wrong lane, ignored the instructions of (two flaggers) and ultimately struck J.W. with his vehicle before driving away,” wrote the prosecutor.
Authorities later apprehended Regnier and charged him with misdemeanors, but those were eventually dismissed.
Two months later in November 2024, a grand jury charged Regnier with one count of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, referring to Regnier’s Jeep.
Wright’s version of these events, given in a Wednesday court filing, says that Regnier tried to turn left when the flaggers confronted him – and J.W. “jumped in front of Mr. Regnier’s moving Jeep, attempting to stop the Jeep with his bare hands.”
The supervising flagger told Regnier to get back in line.
Regnier said he needed badly to go to the bathroom, wrote Wright, adding that the supervisor “would not listen.”
J.W. refused to move and tried stopping the Jeep with his bare hands and body, the attorney’s filing continues. It says J.W. eventually moved to the side of the Jeep and hit it with his stop/slow sign as Regnier drove away.
J.W. wasn’t injured, the filing says.
Wright quoted body camera video from the scene.
“Do you think this is something that I can sue the guy for and maybe get some money?” J.W. asked another person, according to the filing. “What if I say I was too scared to flag ever again. Play the system. You know.”
The Aftermath
Wright’s filing says Regnier changed his blood pressure medication about a week earlier at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration, to maintain his pilot’s license. On the date of the incident, Regnier had suffered medical issues throughout the day, wasn’t feeling well, and had elevated blood pressure, wrote Wright.
Law enforcement personnel took Regnier to the hospital later, believing he could be suffering cardiac arrest, the filing says, adding that he was released from the hospital late that day.
Federal authorities cited him with:
• Failing to comply with traffic directions.
• Violating a government agent’s lawful order.
• Engaging in violent behavior.
• And creating a hazardous condition.
Here Comes The Felony
“Mr. Regnier was very remorseful and planned to plead guilty to all four federal misdemeanors,” wrote Wright.
But the government dismissed those charges that same day, court documents say.
The government took the case to a grand jury, which charged Regnier on Nov. 20, 2024, with the felony. That charge says he used his vehicle “to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate and interfere” with a National Park Service employee.
Federal authorities arrested Regnier in his home state of Oregon on Feb. 13, and he was released Feb. 19, court documents say.
Who Do You Work For?
The prosecutor and defense sparred last month about whether the flagger Regnier is accused of hitting was a government employee at all.
Wright argued that the government failed to show that the flagger was a government employee, and said the evidence characterizes him as a contractor.
He asked U.S. District Court Judge Kelly Rankin to dismiss the case.
Without evidence that the alleged victim was a government employee, the charge would ultimately be unprovable.
Cook countered, saying government officials have confirmed with the Yellowstone National Park human resources department that J.W. was employed with the National Park Service last summer and fall.
“Body camera footage shows J.W. and his colleagues wearing government insignia and uniforms,” Cook added.
Rankin in an April 10 order denied Wright’s dismissal request, saying the government can keep prosecuting Regnier on the language of the indictment.
The judge also ordered the government, by April 15, to give Wright and Regnier “any material discovery within its possession” that the government plans to use at trial, or that Regnier needs to prepare his defense.
Official Duties And Jeep-Jumping
One day before that deadline, the defense asked the government to produce the handbook outlining J.W.’s duties, since the charge says J.W. was engaged in “official duties” when he and the Jeep clashed.
The prosecutor objected, saying even if that evidence exists, he doesn’t think it’s “material to preparing the defense,” and believes it will take a lot of time to find and the rules don’t require him to produce that anyway, according to Wright’s filing.
“Here, the government is withholding, even refusing to find, evidence which is material to Mr. Regnier’s defense,” wrote Wright. “Without it, Mr. Regnier will not be able to… determine if (J.W.) was required to jump in front of moving vehicles as part of his official duties.”
Cook has not yet filed a response. His office declined Wednesday to comment, saying the case is advancing to trial and it doesn’t want to prejudice the jury.
As for Wright, he told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday, “We look forward to proving my client’s innocence, to the indictment, in court.”
An FAA registry says Regnier has been licensed as a private pilot since 2010.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
