CASPER — A 30-year-old Casper man is accused of pointing a loaded gun at the head of his pregnant girlfriend, shooting into a wall, then threatening to shoot her dog.
Tyler James LaPlatney is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, property destruction and defacement and possession of a controlled substance. He made his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court on Monday.
Court records show Casper police were called to Banner Wyoming Medical Center at 12:36 a.m. on Saturday as a woman who is eight months pregnant was being treated for what she said was an assault at her home in the 1600 block of South Elk Street.
“(The woman) advised she had been physically assaulted by LaPlatney, (he) fired a pistol round in the home, then pointed the gun at her face and threatened to shoot her dog,” the police affidavit states. The woman eventually "was able to escape LaPlatney and seek medical treatment.”
Police obtained a search warrant and went to the Elk Street address at 5:15 a.m. and found LaPlatney.
He had a noticeable smell of alcohol on him, dried blood on his pants and minor cuts on his hand, the affidavit states.
He was taken to the police station for an interview.
The woman told police that that she and LaPlatney had been living at the home with another male roommate for two years, and at first she and LaPlatney were roommates before entering into a relationship.
She became pregnant about two months into their relationship.
After she became pregnant, LaPlatney continued to drink excessively, party and had relationships with other women, the woman told police, adding she was aware he had used cocaine in the past.
LaPlatney told her he did not want to continue the relationship, and she began looking for a new place to live, she told police.
When she arrived home before midnight after work on Friday evening, she said LaPlatney awoke from the couch, asked who was there, and insulted her with a slur.
She had picked up some food, sat down on a couch to eat it, and told him “she wasn’t going to entertain his attitude,” the affidavit states.
Threats And A Shot
LaPlatney then reportedly got off of the sofa, tried to take away her soda and the cellphone in her hand, the affidavit says. He then dumped the soda on the woman, threw her food on the floor and told her to “get out."
The affidavit states the woman told Laplatney that she was trying to move out as soon as she could.
“LaPlatney then took a black gun that was on the coffee table and ‘cocked it,’ firing a round into the front of the house above the front windows,” the woman told police. “LaPlatney then ‘cocked’ the gun again and pointed it at (the woman’s) face telling her he would ‘shoot her’ if she didn’t leav
The woman tried to call LaPlatney’s mother and asked her to come to the house.
Meanwhile, LaPlatney threatened to shoot the woman’s 12-year-old Labrador retriever mix and went into her room, took her dog off the bed, and tried to throw the dog down the hallway, the affidavit states.
The woman ran to her room where the dog was and slapped LaPlatney in an attempt to protect her dog, the affidavit states. She tried to push him out of her bedroom.
At that point, as she was trying to close the door, LaPlatney pushed the door so hard in response that the woman fell across the bedroom and landed on a floor fan, striking the fan and causing her to vomit “dark bile,” the affidavit states.
LaPlatney’s mother arrived and helped the woman to her car while LaPlatney followed and began hitting the woman’s black Volkswagen with his fist, putting a dent in the hood and breaking a headlight.
The woman told police she got into her own car, drove to her sister’s house and her sister took her to the hospital.
She said she was afraid LaPlatney would shoot her and her dog, and that he had never “threatened her with a weapon or hurt her dog before,” the affidavit says.
A Denial
During an interview with investigators at the police department, LaPlatney said that nothing happened at the residence with the woman and that, “I punched a (expletive) wall,” according to the affidavit.
He denied assaulting the woman, and when asked about the bullet in the wall and any firearms at the residence, he denied owning one, but said their roommate did.
LaPlatney has three previous convictions in Natrona County courts that make him ineligible to possess weapons.
A search of the residence by police found several firearms, including a Walther 9 mm and Glock 19 9 mm in the living room. The Walther was on a coffee table and the Glock on the floor.
A 9 mm Hornady pistol casing from a bullet round was on the dining room floor.
Police found marijuana paraphernalia as well, and in LaPlatney’s room a plate, Tupperware lid, straw, and jewelers’ bag all with white residue that tested positive for cocaine, the affidavit says.
Videos from the woman’s cellphone showed LaPlatney and the woman arguing as she picked up food from the floor and her talking about his throwing soda on her. The video showed LaPlatney grabbing the woman’s legs and trying to pull her off the couch, the affidavit states.
The affidavit also tells about another video that shows LaPlatney yelling for the woman to leave, walking down a hallway and cursing as he called for the dog and then the sound of the dog “yelping.”
The woman then ran down the hall yelling “leave my dog alone,” and video showed LaPlatney and the woman pushing against each other before LaPlatney grabbed the cellphone and ran with it through the house, the affidavit says.
During his interview with police, LaPlatney asked for water to drink and to use the bathroom. While the officer left the room to get water, LaPlatney urinated in a trash can, the affidavit states. He then lay on the floor.
Both aggravated assault and battery charges as well as the property destruction and defacement charge carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The possession of a controlled substance charge is punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $1,000.
LaPlatney’s bond was set at $75,000 cash or surety.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
