A 36-year-old Cheyenne man is accused of stealing a German shepherd from the yard of one local resident, then chasing and threatening another man with a pickaxe after pelting him with rocks and a cinder block.
Jerry L. Woods Jr. is then is accused of resisting Cheyenne Police Department officers and had to be tased twice before they could finally secure him in handcuffs, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Thursday in Laramie County District Court.
By the time officers arrived Aug. 23 at a Cheyenne home on a report that Woods Jr. was “chasing and threatening individuals with an axe,” he was still at the scene and “appeared very upset over a pair of shoes and a cellular phone,” Officer Caresa Marino wrote in her affidavit.
Although the resident at the home told Woods Jr. that none of his property was there, “Woods grabbed several rocks and began throwing the rocks at (the other man),” the affidavit says.
Stating that he was “in fear for his life,” the other man attempted to run away from Woods Jr. toward an alley directly south of the residence. He ran around a parked car to try and put more distance between them, the affidavit says.
“At that point, Woods grabbed a cinder block and threw it at (the man), which he was able to dodge and it missed striking him,” Marino wrote.
The affidavit goes on to detail the most frightening part of the confrontation, which came right after that, when Woods Jr. allegedly “grabbed a wood-handle pickaxe and started chasing and threatening (the man) with the weapon.”
The other man said he started screaming, “’He has an axe!’ while running away from Woods,” the affidavit adds.
While the man was screaming about being chased with the weapon, another man who was inside the home came out and called police.
When Woods Jr. realized law enforcement was on the way, he allegedly ditched the pickaxe along the fence in the alley.
Tased Twice
The two officers who responded then had to work to arrest an uncooperative and resisting Woods Jr. and place him in custody, Marino wrote.
After struggling with the man to get him to put his arms behind his back, the officers decided to take Woods Jr. to the ground, the affidavit says, where he also continued to resist.
“Once Woods was on the ground, he was laying on his right side and refused to turn onto his stomach like he was instructed to by officers,” the affidavit says. “During the physical altercation officers were able to get Woods onto his stomach while still resisting.”
Then, the affidavit says the work to get his hands behind his back began, and one officer “performed knee strikes to Woods’ torso area on his left side” while another got a taser device ready.
It took two hits from the taser to finally get handcuffs on him, the affidavit says.
That’s Not Your Dog
After the struggle outside the Cheyenne residence following the alleged attempted assault with a pickaxe and cinder block, police learned Woods Jr. was allegedly involved in another crime that day, Marino wrote in her affidavit.
“During the course of the investigation, officers learned that Woods also unlawfully entered onto the property of a residence located in Cheyenne … and stole the black German shepherd dog from (a woman),” the affidavit says.
Woods is accused of illegally trespassing on the woman’s fenced property when she wasn’t home and stealing the dog from the yard.
When officers arrived initially to contact Woods Jr. after the alleged pickaxe incident, he had a large black German shepherd with him at the time, the affidavit says.
Along with misdemeanor charges of theft and criminal trespass relating to the dog, Woods Jr. also has been charged with misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and felony aggravated assault and battery for threatening with a drawn deadly weapon.
Courtrooms aren’t unfamiliar territory for Woods Jr., according to Laramie County court records, which show he’s had at least 35 citations and arrests since 2016. Some of those have resulted in dismissed charges, while he also has a number of convictions.
The charges ranged from traffic offenses and drug possession to a 2017 conviction for kidnapping while inflicting injury. He initially got three years of probation in that case, but violated probation and was sentenced to serve four to five years in jail.
Also in 2017, he was convicted of trying to pass a fake $50 bill and a fake $20 bill at a local Family Dollar store. He also broke probation in that case.
And in 2024, he pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and property destruction.
This most recent felony, if he’s convicted, could land Woods Jr. in prison for a maximum of up to 10 years.
An arraignment hearing for Woods Jr. to enter a plea to the aggravated assault charge in Laramie County District Court hasn’t been set.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
