The man shot by a Cody Police Department officer Monday evening was wielding a knife, according to the agency.
Lucas James-Erick Alvesteffer, 22, of Gillette, died Monday evening in an officer-involved shooting after leading Cody police in a car chase headed east of Cody, the department reported Tuesday.
He was stopped in a residential area of Cody for a lack of registration; he failed to yield in his truck and led personnel in a pursuit on U.S. Highway 14/16/20. Alvesteffer was shot after the truck he was driving broke down, according to the Cody Police Department.
The original statement about the incident did not say whether Alvesteffer was armed.
In a follow-up statement Wednesday, the department elaborated about what reportedly happened after the truck malfunctioned.
“Officers on scene issued multiple verbal commands to Alvesteffer, but he failed to respond. Given the lack of communication and unknown circumstances within the vehicle, officers cautiously approached the passenger side and continued to issue commands,” says the statement.
“Upon not observing any visible weapons, officers opened the passenger side door in an attempt to make contact,” the statement continues. “Despite continued commands, Alvesteffer remained non-compliant. As an officer reached inside the vehicle to detain him, Alvesteffer produced a knife in an aggressive manner.”
The officer started to retreat, the statement says.
Alvesteffer got out of his vehicle and “advanced toward the officers,” it adds.
That was when a Cody Police Department officer “discharged his department-issued weapon, striking Alvesteffer,” the statement says, adding, “Alvesteffer succumbed to his injuries on scene. No officers were injured.”
Alvesteffer had two active warrants for his arrest out of Campbell County, according to both the statement and Alvesteffer’s court file.
One is for two counts of domestic battery, the other is for a bench warrant revoking his $50,000 cash or commercial surety bond on another ongoing case.
The involved officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, in accordance with department policy, and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident as an outside agency.
Last July
On July 13, 2024, a Gillette woman who was 19 weeks pregnant called the local police department to say her boyfriend had attacked her that morning, according to an evidentiary affidavit in Alvesteffer’s court file.
The woman’s and Alvesteffer’s accounts of what happened differed.
She told police that Alvesteffer confessed to cheating on her, they fought, and he choked and beat her.
He told police that she was suffering mood swings from being pregnant, that they’d roughhoused and kissed forcefully prior to an argument, and that she merely accused him of cheating during the argument, according to the document.
The responding officer asked Alvesteffer, if they’d been kissing forcefully, why was she the only one with lip injuries.
The woman also had neck, clavicle, jaw and facial bruising, the document alleges.
Alvesteffer at first faced multiple felonies, but the Campbell County Attorney’s Office reduced the case to one count of aggravated assault on a pregnant woman, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
While Out
While Alvesteffer was out on bond, that same girlfriend visited the police department at about 11:40 a.m. March 10, to say he’d attacked her again, says another affidavit.
A victim’s advocate documented marks and redness to her face, swelling to her bottom lip and a bump on the back of her head, which the woman said were from an attack the prior evening, the document alleges.
Police asked the woman why she didn’t call them the prior evening.
She said Alvesteffer took her phone. But he asked her to drive him to the dentist’s office the morning of March 10, and when she did, she took the chance to visit the police station.
Police went to the dentist’s office, but personnel there said Alvesteffer had rushed out the door before their arrival, says the affidavit.
“At this time I have been unable to locate Lucas and he has not answered his phone,” Gillette Police Department Officer Andy Lucus wrote in the affidavit, which was filed two weeks later. “It is unknown where he is located at this time.”
The Campbell County Attorney’s Office on Wednesday asked the court to dismiss Alvesteffer’s felony-level case, citing his death.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
