When a police officer ran into some playground equipment while trying to catch a suspected impaired driver in a Riverton foot chase on New Year’s Eve, a local man felt badly, retrieved his rope and lassoed the suspect himself.
That’s according to Lander Police Department Chief Kelly Waugh, who told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that he went to thank the man after the incident, and learned he was a champion roper.
The incident started in the All Nations trailer park on the north end of Riverton.
There, the roper’s grandmother needed medical care, and someone called an ambulance.
Lander Police Department Officer Casey Tadewald was working in Riverton that night as part of a multi-agency DUI task force, Waugh noted.
Swing Set Interference
About a half mile from the ambulance response, Tadewald had watched a white, four-door sedan roll through the stop sign at Smith Road and Webbwood, Waugh said.
When Tadewald “lit him up” and tried to stop the vehicle, it sped off to the All Nations trailer park, said the chief.
He said the driver rushed into the neighborhood, then fled on foot after the vehicle stopped — around the same time the grandmother was being transferred into the ambulance a short distance away.
Tadewald “took off on foot, between the trailers, running through the dark,” Waugh recounted.
During the foot pursuit, a swing set assaulted Tadewald.
Or as Waugh put it, the roper “saw my officer get smoked by the swingset, (so) he went in and got his rope.”
Waugh’s social media post on the matter quipped, “swingsets remain undefeated in low-light conditions.”
Fit To Be Tied
The roper lassoed the runaway suspect.
At about that moment, nine more law enforcement officers representing four agencies — Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Riverton Police Department, Wyoming Highway Patrol, and Lander Police Department — converged at the scene.
The law enforcement presence bloomed from one officer to nine in a few seconds, said Waugh.
Police arrested the roped man on suspicion of impaired driving, eluding, and police interference, said the chief.
Tadewald was evaluated for minor injuries and has since been released.
“No civilians were injured, and the swingset has been cleared of suspicion,” Waugh wrote in his public statement. “Law enforcement officials commend the civilian for (his) assistance while reminding the public that the safest way to help is to be a good witness and follow officers’ directions.
"While lasso skills are not required, they are apparently not discouraged.”
The roper, whose identity Cowboy State Daily ascertained from social media exchanges, did not respond by publication time to a message request for comment.
Well, Thanks
Waugh said he was on scene and went to thank the roper.
“He said, ‘As soon as I saw your officer get smoked by the swingset, I felt bad and thought I should help,’” the chief related from that exchange.
There were three other people in the white sedan, Waugh said.
Two were arrested on active warrants. One had fled and hid in a trailer house, but she opened the door when an RPD officer knocked, said the chief.
As for the driver, a Riverton man, he smelled of alcohol, Waugh said.
“They ended up running a search warrant because he refused chemical testing,” said the chief, adding police got a search warrant for a chemical test.
The results of that blood draw test are pending, he added.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
