The same Weston County sheriff’s deputy who helped a traveler get a hotel room was allegedly dodging gunfire from him the next day as the man ran across the prairie south of Upton with two stolen revolvers.
Now a judge has found sufficient facts to warrant probable cause against the traveler, Rodney Lee Anderson, born in 1997.
Anderson had a preliminary hearing Friday in Weston County Circuit Court, where an attempted second-degree murder charge, two counts of aggravated burglary and an interference charge were all bound over to District Court.
The charges stem from a Sept. 9 encounter along Wyoming Highway 116 that triggered an armed-and-dangerous warning and an overnight manhunt involving law enforcement and emergency responders from across the region. Anderson was captured without incident the next morning after 11 hours on the run.
A Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation affidavit filed since then fills in what happened — including allegations that Anderson fired toward the deputy, possibly more than once, and ran toward an occupied home.
Anderson later told investigators he remembered the deputy, but he didn't know anything about the guns.
Black Boots
The chain of events began at 5:39 p.m. Sept. 9 with a report of a vehicle burglary at Rick’s Electric in Weston County.
The owner of a truck said someone had broken into it and stolen a .32-caliber revolver, Neidig wrote.
Investigators also found a pair of black boots that didn't belong to the owner inside the truck. A Weston County sheriff’s deputy recognized them.
The deputy had encountered Anderson the previous night, Neidig wrote, when he had been carrying those boots — or a pair that looked like them.
The deputy also helped Anderson get a hotel room that night.
Not long after the gun was reported stolen, a community member told law enforcement Anderson was walking south down Highway 116.
The deputy made contact with Anderson near mile marker 8 or 9 and believed he was armed, Neidig wrote. The deputy then saw Anderson remove what appeared to be a handgun.
Shots Fired
Anderson allegedly refused the deputy's commands to stop and instead ran from the highway and “out into the prairie.”
Then the shooting started.
“The WCSO Deputy fired his weapon in the direction of Anderson and Anderson also fired, believed to be in the direction of the Deputy,” Neidig wrote.
Anderson kept running, the affidavit says, ignoring the deputy's commands and crossing onto private property toward what they believed was an occupied residence.
“During the pursuit, Anderson fired possibly another time at the WCSO Deputy in the direction or area, while brandishing two firearms,” Neidig wrote.
Investigators said Anderson then turned those guns toward the deputy.
The deputy fired an additional round from his patrol rifle while continuing the pursuit, Neidig wrote.
Eventually, Anderson disappeared. The deputy lost sight of him, and authorities established a perimeter and called in backup.
Lunch Box Bullets
The search soon turned up another clue.
Officers found a lunch box in a field near an area where Anderson had been, Neidig wrote.
Inside were .357-caliber bullets and a pill bottle belonging to a local resident.
When investigators contacted that person, they learned the pill bottle wasn't the only thing missing.
A .357-caliber revolver had also disappeared from the resident's vehicle.
That's when the Weston County Sheriff's Office issued an alert warning residents about Anderson and urging anyone who spotted him to contact law enforcement.
“ARMED AND DANGEROUS!!!” the alert warned at the time.
“DO NOT APPROACH!”
The alert told people to keep their doors and vehicles locked as a large-scale manhunt involving the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Crook County Sheriff's Office, Newcastle and Upton police departments, Weston County Sheriff's Search and Rescue and other responders spread across the area.
Anderson remained missing through the night.
Waving Down Cars
Shortly before sunrise Sept. 10, someone called 911.
At about 5:37 a.m., a citizen reported seeing a man dressed in dark clothing along Highway 116 near mile marker 9.5 trying to wave motorists down.
Law enforcement officers quickly responded. They found Anderson near mile marker 11.5 and took him into custody.
He was carrying a Ruger .32-caliber and a Ruger .357-caliber revolver, Neidig wrote. Both were six-shot revolvers.
The .32 contained two spent shell casings and four live rounds; the .357 had four spent casings and two live rounds.
Investigators allegedly found an approximately 8-inch kitchen knife concealed inside the sock on Anderson's left leg and a 50-milliliter plastic bottle of Fireball hidden in his pant leg.
Anderson was also wearing a blue jacket investigators say belonged to one of the victims of the firearm thefts and was stolen from a vehicle.
‘No Recollection’
Anderson was taken back to the Weston County Sheriff's Office, where he agreed to speak with DCI agents.
He told them he'd been homeless for the previous two years and had been making his way across the country by walking and hitchhiking.
Anderson said he'd arrived around Upton approximately two days earlier.
He said he remembered the deputy who had helped him find a hotel room the previous night, but his recollection stopped there.
When agents specifically asked Anderson about the two guns officers allegedly found concealed on him, he “stated he did not know,” Neidig wrote.
Anderson also “claimed to have no recollection of the shooting incident with the Deputy.”
Possible Life Sentence
A circuit court judge found probable cause at Anderson’s Sept. 18 preliminary hearing to send the attempted second-degree murder and two aggravated burglary charges to district court.
If convicted, Anderson faces 20 years to life in prison for attempted second-degree murder, five to 25 years for each of two aggravated burglary counts, and additional jail or prison time for interference.
Anderson remains jailed on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
His next stop in District Court will be an arraignment, where the charges will be formally presented, and Anderson will be asked to enter a plea.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
