CASPER — A 17-year-old Gillette boy admitted to a Natrona County District Court judge Friday that he and “some guys” were out stealing cars the night they ran from police before being caught.
Everett Kale Forbes was 16 during the Aug. 16-17 crime spree that involved stealing cars and guns in the Casper area, the teen confessed as part of a plea agreement he made with Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson.
Forbes appeared before District Court Judge Joshua Eames in a red jumpsuit and chains. He stood beside his defense attorney, Steven Mink, and answered the judge’s questions about the crimes in clear voice.
Under the plea deal outlined by Mink and confirmed by Nelson, the teen pleaded guilty to all six charges against him, with one count of aggravated burglary that involved stealing a weapon from a 2008 Hummer being modified to a standard burglary charge.
With the change, Forbes’ charges became one count of conspiracy to commit theft, two counts of theft, two counts of burglary, and one count of eluding.
Mink told the judge that there would be an “uncapped argument” at sentencing, meaning that the prosecution could ask for the maximum sentence on each charge.
Boot Camp Request
The plea deal also involved both Mink and Nelson agreeing to ask that the judge to consider the Wyoming Department of Corrections Boot Camp program for youthful offenders as part of his sentence.
If Forbes successfully completes the program, then prosecutors would not object to a modification of his sentence.
Forbes told the judge that he understood the plea deal. The judge then read through the charges and asked him how he would plead.
“Guilty,” Forbes said.
Eames asked Forbes to tell him what he did on the evening of Aug. 16 and early morning of Aug. 17.
“I was stealing cars with some guys when police officers tried to pull me over,” he said. “I did elude.”
The judge then questioned Forbes about the specifics of the charges that included the theft of a white Mazda, entering a 2008 Hummer to commit a burglary, breaking into an apartment in the 1900 block of South Missouri Street to commit a burglary, theft of a BMW and then fleeing the police.
“Did you see law enforcement attempting to pull you over?” The judge asked.
“Yes,” Forbes said.
The judge accepted the plea deal and instructed Forbes that the agreement had a “cold plea” provision that means that any misconduct on his part at the Natrona County Detention Center would mean the agreement could be thrown out and he could face “nearly a life sentence.”
Eames noted that Forbes had a $100,000 cash or surety bond and that due to the bond he would be ineligible to work at the detention center if he had the opportunity.
He asked Mink and Nelson if they objected to his removing the bond and holding him without bond.
Neither did. The judge then ordered him held without bond.
Both Mink and Nelson made references to another criminal charge Forbes is facing in Campbell County.
Gillette Charge
Court records show Forbes is charged with stealing a 2017 Subaru Legacy from a home in Gillette and driving it around as if it was his own in July.
Forbes’ problems with the law in Casper began with calls to 911 around 9:30 p.m. Aug. 16 from a resident in the 4000 block of Gannett Street on Casper’s east side.
That person saw three males wearing separate red, black, and blue hooded sweatshirts testing door handles on cars and getting access to several vehicles.
Casper Police Detective Tiffany Elhart testified during Forbes preliminary examination that Forbes was one of potentially five juveniles from the Gillette and Sheridan areas involved in the theft ring.
She identified Forbes as the person in the blue hoodie.
As the night progressed, Casper police received reports of a stolen wallet and pistol from an address in the 4000 block of Gannett Street, and then of two masked people with red and blue hoodies getting out of a white Mazda at the westside Walmart parking lot.
The person wearing the red hoodie got into a black Taurus and the person with the blue hoodie into a white BMW.
The investigation showed the 2016 Mazda driven into the lot had been stolen from a Casper resident who lived in the 8000 block of West Chalk Creek Road.
Video footage confirmed the same young men in hoodies matched descriptions of the seen trying to enter cars on the east side of town.
Police then responded to a reported residential burglary in the 1900 block of Missouri Avenue at 3:48 a.m. on Aug. 17, where an apartment tenant told police he was sleeping and woke up because of loud bangs on his front door.
Door Kicked In
A Casper Police Department affidavit in the case states the apartment's “front door had been kicked in and was wide open with pieces of the frame scattered about.”
Elhart testified at the preliminary hearing that video taken from a camera at an apartment across the hall showed a person in a red sweatshirt 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-hoodie teen inside and trying to get out and the person in the blue hoodie trying to enter the apartment.
Forbes and a minor accomplice were caught by police after a Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted both the black Taurus and white BMW traveling at high speeds on Wyoming Boulevard in Casper.
The vehicles took off and hit speeds of more than 100 mph when the deputy tried to pull them over, Elhart testified.
While the black Taurus eluded officers, the white BMW left the roadway, jumped a curb, and stopped. The occupants fled on foot, police gave chase, and Forbes was arrested wearing the blue hoodie, Elhart said.
He had been driving the vehicle.
Forbes’ accomplice was arrested as well and is in the juvenile court system, Elhart testified at the preliminary hearing.
Firearms
The white BMW had been stolen from a home in the 2000 block of Centennial Hills Boulevard.
Inside the BMW, police found four firearms, including a pistol stolen from the 4000 Gannett Street address on the driver’s seat.
Officers also recovered a black Walther handgun wrapped in a black face mask with serial number filed off, a black Sig Sauer P365 9 mm found on the ground outside the passenger door, and a black TP9 Canik handgun found on the front passenger sideboard, the police affidavit states.
On Aug. 17, the Sig Sauer P365 handgun was reported stolen. The owner said it was in his vehicle parked in the 100 block of Indian Paintbrush Street on the city’s southwest side.
The conspiracy to commit theft, two theft charges, and burglary charges all are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fines. 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.
