Allegedly outraged by an aggressive dirt bike rider zipping around his Albany County campsite, a man is accused of pulling two guns on three other campers he brawled with over the holiday weekend.
Tyler James McGill, born in 1996, could get more than 15 years in prison if convicted of felony aggravated assault and battery and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent.
He’s also charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery for fighting with the other campers, according to records filed Monday in Albany County Circuit Court.
The Brawl
McGill was camping to an area in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest southeast of Rob Roy Reservoir a little after 5 p.m. on July 4.
He sought out the other campers when one of them was “riding a dirt bike aggressively around McGill’s campsite and kicking up rocks,” Albany County Undersheriff John Beeston writes in an affidavit of probable cause filed in McGill’s case.
“McGill stated that he went to confront the male subject at another campsite, (and) he became involved in a physical altercation with three adult males,” Beeston wrote.
As deputies investigated the altercation, a pair of videos of the fight were produced by witnesses which, along with accounts of those involved, elicit images of a Hollywood fight sequence.
While McGill was engaged with the first two campers, the third intervened to fight with him, the affidavit says.
During that scuffle, McGill allegedly retrieved a handgun that was in the back waistband of the third camper, Beeston wrote.
“While McGill and TL (initials for the third camper) were engaged in a physical fight, McGill reached into TL’s waistband and removed TL’s firearm and pointed it at FR (the second camper),” the affidavit says.
McGill then “stepped back and racked the slide, and pointed the firearm at FR,” Beeston continues in his affidavit. “TL then attempted to regain control of the firearm.”
As they fought over possession of the gun, a round was fired, but didn’t hit anybody.
‘Exchanging Punches’
Also during that tussle, TL and FR got possession of the gun back, the affidavit says. But that wasn’t the end of the fight.
“McGill then returned to his vehicle at his campsite, retrieved another firearm, and stood behind the vehicle holding the firearm at his waist,” Beeston wrote.
The affidavit doesn’t say if they argued or fought more after that point.
However, it does detail some of what investigators saw on the witness videos. A video obtained by the sheriff’s office the next day shows the first part of the fight, according to the affidavit.
“In the video, (a deputy) observed McGill punch FR while FR was kneeling on the ground and again after FR stood up,” the document says. “TL came to assist FR, at which point McGill and TL began exchanging punches.”
The investigation, along with the witness videos of the physical brawl between the four men, led the undersheriff to conclude that there is enough evidence to support McGill’s charges.
McGill had his initial circuit court appearance Monday, where he was advised of the charges against him and a July 14 preliminary hearing was set.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
