CASPER — A 16-year-old Gillette boy is facing six criminal charges stemming from an overnight crime spree in which he’s accused of stealing cars and guns, as well as committing a home invasion.
The teen was bound over to Natrona County District Court on Tuesday after a preliminary hearing.
Everett Kale Forbes, who appeared in court in a red jumpsuit and shackles, is charged with conspiracy to commit theft, two counts of theft, aggravated burglary, burglary and eluding.
Judge Kevin Taheri ruled that testimony provided a Casper Police Department detective showed probable cause to send Forbes’ case on to the higher court, despite an argument from Forbes’ defense attorney on one charge.
Testimony by Casper Police Department Detective Tiffany Elhart indicated that Forbes is one of potentially five juveniles from the Gillette and Sheridan areas involved in the theft ring.
Only Forbes, who is charged as an adult, and another juvenile from Gillette are in custody.
Under questioning from Natrona County Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson, Elhart outlined how Forbes and the others allegedly began their crime spree at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 16 in the 4000 block of Gannett Street on the east side of the city.
Their movement then escalated to an incident in a Walmart parking lot on the west side and a high-speed chase that topped more than 100 mph through a west-side residential neighborhood.
The Sweatshirts
Elhart testified that officers first responded to a 911 call from the 4000 block of Gannett, where a resident reported seeing three males in hoodie sweatshirts — one red, one black and one blue — “breaking into vehicles by checking door handles.”
They were seen in a black Ford Taurus.
When officers arrived, the suspects were gone, Elhart said. But at 10:03 p.m. police were notified by a Gannett Street homeowner that he was missing his wallet and a KAHR 9 mm pistol that had an extended magazine. Both items were stolen from his 2008 Hummer.
Elhart said that at about 3 a.m. Aug. 17, a Walmart employee on the city’s southwest side reported seeing masked males get out of a white car and into a different white car and leave the area.
The responding officer obtained video from the store that showed a white Mazda entered the parking lot and the driver in a red hooded sweatshirt get out.
A male wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt also got out from the passenger side of the car.
Blue Sweatshirt
Elhart said the video showed a white BMW and black Taurus pull up next to the Mazda, and the male with the blue sweatshirt got into the BMW. The detective testified it was later shown that Forbes was wearing the blue sweatshirt.
The officer ran the license plate on the Mazda that left in the Walmart lot, called the owner, and learned that the owner’s daughter was driving it and had been visiting with a friend in the Paradise Valley subdivision in southwest Casper.
The daughter did not realize the car had been stolen, Elhart said.
Police at 3:48 a.m. were then called to the Foxhill Apartments on the city’s south side for a report of a residential burglary.
“The renter of the apartment advised his front door had just been kicked in,” Elhart said. “Pieces of the frame were scattered about.”
Elhart said video taken from a camera at an apartment across the hall showed a person in a red sweatshirt going up and trying the door handle, then speaking to people off camera and whispering, “This is the one.”
The video showed all three males involved in the previous calls wearing black, red, and blue sweatshirts and masks. The male wearing the black sweatshirt covered the camera and a “loud bang” could be heard in the video.
Elhart said the video then showed the red sweatshirt teen inside and trying to get out and the blue sweatshirt person trying to enter the apartment.
“All three individuals are seen running from that apartment door in question,” Elhart said.
She told Nelson that they did not appear to take anything from the apartment.
High-Speed Chase
Shortly after the home invasion, Elhart testified that a Natrona County Sheriff’s deputy spotted the black Taurus and white BMW traveling at high speeds and driving recklessly on Wyoming Boulevard. They then turned into the Wolf Creek subdivision to the west of the road.
The deputy turned on his lights to pull them over and “both vehicles failed to yield,” she said. “Both vehicles were traveling at over 100 mph.”
Elhart said the Taurus was lost in the subdivision but the deputy, and then Casper Police officers followed the white BMW at high speeds until it came to the intersection of Eagle Drive and Talon Drive where it “leaves the roadway, jumps the curb and it is disabled.”
The car’s occupants opened their doors and ran.
The deputy and two Casper police officers pursued the driver wearing the blue hoodie and passenger wearing the black hoodie and took them into custody. She said Forbes was wearing the blue hoodie and had a black face mask on his person.
Under questioning about the juvenile status of the passenger and his charges in juvenile court from Nelson, Elhart said the passenger was identified and referred to him by initials.
The 2013 BMW was traced by police as belonging to a Casper man who said his son typically drove it and it usually left the key fob in the vehicle.
The owner told officers they gave no permission for anyone to drive the vehicle.
Elhart said officers found the KAHR 9 mm pistol stolen from the Hummer on the driver’s seat of the BMW, where Forbes had exited.
They also found three other firearms: a Walther with an obliterated serial number, a black Sig Sauer pistol, and a black TP9 Canik pistol on the front passenger sideboard.
Elhart said police were notified by a resident in Paradise Valley on Indian Paintbrush Street that his Sig Sauer pistol had been stolen from his van parked outside his home. Surveillance video showed the same three people on foot and the black Taurus driving down the street.
Casper police are still getting reports of missing items that they are investigating as potentially being linked to the crime spree, Elhart said.
Sheridan, Gillette Ties
Under questioning from defense attorney Steve Mink, Elhart said the person in the red-hooded sweatshirt is still “at large” and believed to be from the Sheridan area.
She said CPD is working with both Sheridan and Gillette police departments on the case, and those departments are investigating incidents in their jurisdictions “involving these subjects.”
Elhart said the black Taurus used in the Casper spree was stolen and has been recovered.
One charge against Forbes involves the theft of the Mazda that was left at the Walmart parking lot.
Mink argued that the circumstances surrounding the car did not fit theft charges because the movement of the vehicle did not “deprive” the owner of its use.
He said the vehicle was not damaged and was just parked in the Walmart lot.
Nelson argued that “it’s not incumbent on the victim to play ‘Where’s Waldo’” to find her own car.
Taheri allowed the count to remain, citing Wyoming law that merged “receiving and concealing” property into the state’s theft statue.
Mink also asked that his client’s $100,000 cash bond be reduced or at least changed to cash or surety, citing the charges against him were not violent offenses.
“I don’t think it’s a reasonable bond,” he said.
Nelson argued that “kicking someone’s door down in the middle of the night” was violent and that Forbes is facing an aggravated burglary charge. He asked the judge to keep the bond where it was at.
Taheri agreed with Mink to change it to cash or surety but left it at $100,000.
The conspiracy to commit theft, two theft charges, and burglary charge all are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fines. The aggravated burglary charge is punishable by a minimum of five to 25 years in prison and $50,000 fine.
The eluding charge is a misdemeanor and carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine of $750.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
