A 42-year-old Thermopolis man told police he was drunk the night he shot up his neighbors’ homes with a rifle and was caught on video in an apparent attempt to ambush one of them.
Joseph Cavalli had his initial appearance in Hot Springs County Circuit Court on Friday, charged with two felonies, aggravated assault-threatening with a deadly weapon and property destruction, and misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
When confronted by Thermopolis police investigators Thursday about two homes near his his that had been hit multiple times from outside with a rifle, Cavalli admitted taking the pot shots, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Thermopolis Police Officer Chase Workman.
“We asked him about the incident, to which he confessed that he was drunk and it was him who shot the neighbors’ homes with his .22 long rifle,” the affidavit says.
Cavalli also admitted the video captured by a surveillance camera shows him holding the rifle while pounding on a neighbor's door. After knocking, he then took a position as if intending to shoot whoever answered, the affidavit says.
The video “shows a male they confirmed as Joseph Cavalli walking up to their front door with a long rifle,” Workman wrote. “He then proceeds to knock loudly on the door several times.
“And each time after knocking, he shoulders the firearm and points it toward the door as if preparing to shoot whoever answers the door.”
He also is seen on the video peeking through the window of the door to see if anyone was coming.
“Luckily, no one answered the door that night,” the affidavit says.
When asked about that incident, Cavalli confirmed that was him in the video, but that “he could not give a reason besides he was drunk and depressed and he needs help with his drinking problem,” according to the affidavit.
Asked where the rifle was, Cavalli said that it had been stolen, and it wasn’t found by investigators.
His account of being intoxicated, however, lines up with a DUI arrest later that night after the time stamps on the video, Workman wrote.
Arrived To Find House Shot Up
Although Cavalli was arrested Thursday, Thermopolis police began investigating the shooting the evening of Oct. 19 when four men arrived at a home near Cavalli’s owned by their father.
The home usually rents as an Airbnb, and had been vacant until they arrived, the affidavit says. But once inside, they immediately noticed damage from multiple rifle shots that originated from outside the house, the affidavit says.
“They just arrived in town for a hunting trip and immediately noticed what appeared to be bullet holes in several of the windows of the house,” according to the affidavit.
When Workman inspected the damage in a back bedroom, “I observed at least six bullet holes through the window above the bed,” he wrote. “There also was observable holes into the ceiling where the bullets had traveled.
“There was glass on the bed indicating the bullets possibly came from outside the window.”
When he went outside, Workman wrote that he found five spent .22-caliber Remington shell casings in the grass and another bullet hole in the house.
The next day, another homeowner in the cluster of houses on Chevy Chase reported damage as well, the affidavit says. Video from yet another neighbor would confirm it as the same house Cavalli allegedly banged on the door.
After more investigation, police arrested and interviewed Cavalli on Thursday, the affidavit says.
Although he was initially held on a $250,000 bond, that was reduced to $5,000 cash only on Friday.
Cavalli remains in the Hot Springs County Detention Center as of Monday afternoon. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 2.
If convicted of all charges and given maximum concurrent sentences, Cavalli could get up to 21 years in prison and fines up to $20,000.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
