UPDATE 3 p.m.: This story has been updated with a report on the suspect's initial court appearance Friday afternoon.
A 41-year-old Gillette man drove the wrong way on Interstate 90 three times Thursday, led law enforcement on a 70-95 mph chase through pastures and country roads, crashed into a Subaru and told deputies he had a bomb in his vehicle, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office says.
That’s why the interstate was shut down for about an hour Thursday afternoon, Campbell County Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds told Cowboy State Daily in a Friday phone interview.
A person called 911 at about 2:06 p.m. from mile marker 97 on I-90 near the town of Buffalo, Wyoming, Reynolds said.
The driver was approaching Campbell County, which lies to the east, he added.
Concerned callers revealed that the vehicle, a tan Chevy Tahoe, exited the interstate onto a county road. Campbell County Sheriff’s deputies and Wyoming Highway Patrol responded.
While units converged, another caller, a 50-year-old male, said the Tahoe was driving recklessly and had tried to hit him on Montgomery Road north of I-90.
“That’s when we encountered it,” said Reynolds, adding that the driver was later identified as 41-year-old Justin Yoder of Gillette.
The Chase
Deputies found a 2001 tan Chevy Tahoe on Montgomery Road near Kingsbury Road.
The Tahoe did not stop for law enforcement, speeding instead onto Kingsbury Road, then Barlow Road, then through a field and through two fences in someone’s pasture, headed for the interstate, Reynolds recalled.
Reynolds said the Tahoe traveled about 70 mph on the county roads, and reached speeds of 95 mph on the interstate.
The Tahoe drove west in the eastbound lane of I-90, crossed the center median into the westbound lane, then crossed the median again into the eastbound lane, added the undersheriff.
Reynolds said that was when the driver struck a 2017 Subaru Outback with a 70-year-old man and the man’s wife inside.
Both vehicles were disabled. The older couple suffered minor injuries, pain and soreness, the undersheriff said.
There’s A Bomb
Law enforcement personnel approached Yoder, who refused to exit his vehicle and insisted a bomb lay inside it.
He eventually complied with requests to exit and was arrested, and deputies summoned the Campbell County bomb squad, said Reynolds.
Reynolds said he’s grateful for the help of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, and for the fact that Campbell County has its own bomb squad. The latter were at a crisis training Thursday, so they were all on duty when called to the scene, he noted.
Once there, personnel first sent a drone in to observe the vehicle.
A bomb technician suited up and approached the vehicle next. He discovered bare wires and other objects that indicated someone had tampered with the door locks or automatic window mechanism, Reynolds said.
There was no bomb.
“(The driver) was under the influence of a narcotic, I believe,” the undersheriff said, adding that at the jail, Yoder was noncompliant for a while.
The interstate reopened later that afternoon, once the loose wires were confirmed safe.
“Sorry for the inconvenience to the citizens, but we needed to determine there wasn’t an actual bomb in the vehicle,” Reynolds said.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol declined to comment on the events of the case, noting the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office was the primary agency.
In Court
Yoder made his first appearance in Campbell County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon before Magistrate Judge Richard Erb, who explained Yoder was facing four charges for felony aggravated assault and battery, felony aggravated eluding, felony destruction of property and misdemeanor reckless driving.
If found guilty, Yoder faces up to 25 years in prison, fines of up to $25,750, or both.
As Magistrate Erb read the first charge for aggravated assault and battery, he asked Yoder if he understood the charge.
“It doesn’t matter,” Yoder responded. “You guys don’t understand why I did what I did, so I’m not even going to worry about it.”
As Erb continued to inquire whether he understood the charges, Yoder said he didn’t understand anything anymore but that it was nothing the magistrate could help him with.
“I don’t know what the truth is anymore,” Yoder said.
When asked, Yoder refused to provide his phone number and said he had been staying in a hotel and that he worked as a self-employed contractor offering mine services.
He repeatedly interrupted the proceedings, saying he just wanted to go back to his “jail cell and die.”
Yoder told the court that “there’s things happening that I haven’t been able to understand lately” and that he had been radiated but nobody was listening.
He further stated that he had not been drinking or using drugs Thursday, but that he has some problems in his head and that nobody has listened to him “since the beginning.”
The state requested that Yoder be held on a $25,000 cash only bond given Yoder’s past history, the weight of the current charges as well as his stated suicidal ideations to which magistrate Erb granted.
Yoder declined a public defender and refused to sign the bond form.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. May 19.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
