A Texas truck driver accused of going on an angry rampage near Greybull, cussing out a coworker, then trying to run down three men while giving them the finger out the window of his semitrailer, could face up to 30 years in prison.
William Eric Vauter, 58, remains in the Big Horn County Detention Center after being bound over to district court Wednesday to face three felony charges of aggravated assault and battery, according to court records.
Vauter, who is from Houston, Texas, had been in a crash on County Road 26 outside Greybull, Wyoming, two days before and was visibly angry and hostile to a coworker and tow truck driver who had responded to retrieve his damaged semi, reports Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Nathan Kreider in an affidavit of probable cause to support the charges.
He repeatedly cursed at the other men — and Kreider, who had responded to the scene to provide traffic control — and was belligerent after he nearly ran down the three other men in a semi doing at least 60 mph while barreling through the accident recovery scene, Kreider says in his affidavit.
“I observed a semi, white in color, travelling southbound from the bentonite plant towards our recovery scene at a high rate of speed,” the deputy wrote. “I started waving down the truck to slow down through the recovery area.”
Kreider also set the scene, explaining the tow truck had its flashing lights on, cones were out in the road to section off the area of the recovery, along with his emergency vehicle with lights flashing. Also, Kreider was in the road attempting to direct traffic.
“I was in the middle of the southbound lane in clear view of the driver, waving my arms above my head to get his attention,” Kreider wrote. “The semi did not reduce speed and continued towards the scene at a high rate of speed.”
The deputy says he yelled at the other two men to get out of the way, as they also were in the path of the semi.
“I attempted again to slow the semi down, and he did not comply,” the affidavit continues. “By that time, the semi was well within our recovery scene. It appeared that the driver had complete disregard for the safety of myself and the recovery crew.”
That’s when Kreider noticed something else that indicated the driver allegedly deliberately tried to hit them.
“I quickly looked at the driver and observed his left hand out the driver’s window giving the recovery workers the middle finger,” he wrote.
Cussing And Middle Fingers
The table was set for the apparent road rage tantrum two days prior on July 20, when Vauter was driving another semitrailer on County Road 26 and was involved in a crash, disabling his truck.
On July 22, a man from a tow recovery service and a coworker of Vauter's from his trucking company, Marquardt Skyway Transportation, were working to remove the damaged truck, Kreider wrote in his affidavit.
The coworker had hauled another truck with him for Vauter to drive back to South Dakota after the crashed semi was secured.
While the coworker and tow driver worked, Vauter was angry with his coworker for reasons not described in the affidavit.
The coworker told the deputy that Vauter “was cussing him out off and on while they were working on the semi,” the affidavit says. “(He) stated that Vauter was in the spare semi that he had hauled to the scene for Vauter to drive back to South Dakota.”
A little later, Kreider wrote that he “observed (the coworker) go to the white semi and tell Vauter he could hook up to a flatbed trailer. Vauter exited his truck and immediately started screaming, ‘f*** you, f*** you’ and giving (the coworker) the middle finger on both hands.”
Vauter did hook the flatbed trailer to the white semi he was driving that day, and he left the scene going northbound toward the nearby bentonite plant, the affidavit says.
For the next 20 minutes, the other men worked to get the crashed truck secured.
Still Mad
Then all heck broke loose as a white semi came racing back toward them from the same direction Vauter had left, the affidavit says.
As the other two men dove to avoid being hit by the semi driven by Vauter, Kreider reports that it came within a foot of making him a hood ornament.
After twice trying to stop the semi, “I then attempted to get out of the way to the west side of the roadway as the semi sped through the scene at an estimated speed of 60 mph or higher,” he wrote. “The semi came within approximately 1 foot of hitting me.
“As the semi passed me, I was close enough to feel the heat coming off the semi and a wall of displaced air sucking me towards the passing semi.”
After making sure the other two men were OK, Kreider wrote that he got into his patrol vehicle and pursued the semi, finally catching up and stopping it about 1.5 miles down the highway.
“After the semi stopped, the driver got out of the cab and aggressively walked towards my patrol truck,” Kreider wrote. “I recognized the driver to be Vauter.”
He got out and met Vauter at the back of his trailer, where the Texas man continued to be agitated, the affidavit says.
“He was upset about the traffic stop and argued that he did not see the emergency vehicles and that he did not speed through the scene,” according to the affidavit. “He did state that he was ‘going the speed limit of 65 mph’ through the scene.”
That’s when Kreider says he informed Vauter that the speed limit on that road is 50 mph.
Vauter also “denied almost hitting myself as well as the two other recovery workers,” he wrote.
Vauter remains in jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond, and a date for his arraignment in Big Horn County District Court hasn’t yet been set.
Each of the three aggravated assault and battery charges is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
That puts a potential maximum sentence, if convicted, at up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $30,000.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
