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Andrew Rossi

Crime & Courts

Urapeein Porta Pots in Billings, Montana, expects to lose a few toilets every Independence Day.

Over the last week, at least 13 of the small company’s portable toilets were destroyed.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Even by their standards, that’s a massacre."}]

“We typically lose four to five toilets every year during the Fourth of July due to fireworks,” co-owner Kris Vogele said. “Some years, we’ve lost eight or nine. There have been at least 13 this year, and that’s worse than normal.”

Vogele estimates that damages are well over $12,000 and could easily get higher. All those costs will come out of the company’s porta-pot profits.

“People don't think about who this impacts,” he said. “They want to blow up a toilet for the laughs, but it’s definitely hurting people, and it hurts our community.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Blowin’ Up Toilets"}]

Vogele started getting calls about destroyed toilets last week. They lost their first one on Wednesday.

“It mostly has happened in residential construction projects in northwest Billings,” he said. “Subdivisions where not a lot of people are living yet, but a lot of new homes are being built.”

Vogele’s phone was ringing off the hook Monday, as contractors returning to work after the holiday weekend reported unusable toilets and their contents scattered across their job sites.

The only explanation for the extent and nature of the damage is fireworks. Big fireworks.

After several years in the portable toilet business with his son, Connor, Vogele knows to anticipate some lost toilets during the week of Independence Day. It’s the only time of year it seems to happen.

“It's pretty much whenever anybody has access to fireworks,” he said. “We’ve lost a couple around New Year’s, and we might lose a few more this weekend. If people have fireworks they didn’t set off last weekend, they might blow up a toilet this weekend.”

Most of the destroyed toilets were blown apart, but some were melted by the intense heat of whatever was inside.

“They light a fountain off on the floor of the toilet, and that usually melts or burns most of it,” Vogele said. “We've had one toilet that actually burned all the way to the ground. When we showed up for it, it was just a block of plastic on the ground.”

At this point, there are no culprits because there were no security cameras catching the toilet destroyers in the act. Vogele will have to swallow those costs.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Out-Of-State Ordnance?"}]

By this point, Vogele understands what kind of fireworks are needed to blow up a toilet. That’s why he believes they couldn’t have come from Billings or the surrounding area.

“These are not the type of fireworks you can buy at a fireworks stand in Montana,” he said. “If you saw one of our toilets that was really blown apart, it had to have been a large explosive.”

Vogele said he believes the fireworks came from Wyoming or the Crow 

 year-round, whereas Montana only allows for sales between June 24 and July 5.

If Montanans want bigger fireworks, they’ll find them at the year-round places. For Vogele, it’s the only way to explain the extent of the destruction.

"I know a lot of people go to Wyoming to buy bigger fireworks than we can get here," he said.

There are many ways to blow up a portable toilet. 

 the cocktail of chemicals and human waste in the tank won’t be enough to stop an explosion.

“They're either putting it in the tank and blowing a big hole in the tank, or setting it on the floor,” Vogele said. “If the porta potty has been used, it's not all liquid in the tank. It might land on toilet paper floating right at the top and blow up.”

Either way, the aftermath isn’t pleasant. It’s another problem Vogele must deal with.

“If the explosive goes in the tank, whatever’s inside it goes everywhere,” he said. “It’s quite the cleanup.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Assurance From Insurance"}]

A single portable toilet costs around $900, plus an additional $250 for shipping. 

Yes, but with the way the company’s insurance works, Vogele said it’s not worth the effort or payout.

“Our insurance company sees each exploded toilet as an individual occurrence, so each one has its own deductible,” he said. “Our deductible for equipment is $1,000, so the most we could get is $100 to $150.”

If Vogele filed a claim for each destroyed toilet, each would be treated each as a loss. That would drive up Urapeein’s annual rates when the company renews each year.

That’s why Vogele said “it’s not worth reporting” any of the exploded toilets.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I don’t need my insurance to go up that much,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Don’t Be Crappy"}]

The costs for repairing or replacing $12,000 of destroyed property, so far, will be covered by Urapeein. For Vogele, that’s adding insult to injury.

“We donate a lot to the community and sponsor a lot of events and organizations,” he said. “At the end of the day, that's $12,000 we won’t have to give to our community.”

More than 400 Urapeein toilets are placed throughout southern Montana, Vogele said, so the 13 blown-up toilets don’t represent a huge loss of inventory. Still, he can’t help but empathize with his son, who started the business.

“He started with 40 toilets in 2018,” he said. “If this had happened back then, it would have been a really big hardship for us. It would have been a killer for him.”

People have recommended that Urapeein purchase and place trail cams around his toilets to catch people in the act, hopefully leading to identification and restitution.

While he appreciates the thought, Vogele knows that’s an expensive solution for a once-a-year problem.

“Putting a $150 trail cam at 400 toilets is a $60,000 expense for one weekend,” he said. “It’s not something we’re going to do.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The moral of this story, for Vogele, is don’t be a crappy person."}]

Blowing up a portable toilet could be fun, even hilarious. Anyone who is determined should acquire their own, rather than add an unnecessary financial burden to a small family-owned company.

“This is a big expense for us,” Vogele said. “It hurts us, and it hurts our community, because it limits what we can give to the community. We have less to give if we have to keep replacing blown-up toilets.”

Porta Potties exploded 7 7 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Vandals Blow Up 13 Porta Potties In Montana, Company Blames Wyoming Fireworks | Cowboy State Daily</title>

At least 13 portable toilets were blown up in Billings over the July 4 holiday and the company is blaming Wyoming fireworks for the destruction. They say the fireworks were likely purchased in Wyoming because Montana's fireworks aren't powerful enough.

Vandals Blow Up 13 Porta Potties In Montana, Company Blames Wyoming Fireworks

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Courts

A Colorado man is accused of shooting a drinking buddy in the chest with a stolen .45-caliber handgun while in a truck after leaving a Baggs, Wyoming, bar in the early morning hours Saturday.

Alejandro Rodriguez-Zarraga, 37, was in the back seat of a Ford Raptor with three other men at about 1:30 a.m. after a night of drinking at the Cowboy Bar in Baggs, Carbon County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Patrick Patterson wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Carbon County Circuit Court.

Sitting in the back seat of the truck, Rodriguez-Zarraga was allegedly shooting a Sig Sauer 1911-style handgun out the window, then the gun discharged again when he pulled it inside the vehicle, the affidavit says.

Rodriguez-Zarraga “started shooting out of the rear passenger window of the vehicle,” Patterson wrote. “The weapon was brought back inside the vehicle, and an additional round was fired, going thru (sic) the back of the passenger seat and into (another man), who was sitting in the front passenger seat.”

The driver and other two men in the truck attempted to stop the victim’s bleeding, then drove south on Highway 13 into Colorado and to Memorial Regional Hospital in Craig, the affidavit says.

They called 911 while driving, and Moffat County deputies out of Colorado located the truck as it was driving to the hospital.

They also went to the location at about mile 115 of Highway 13 where Rodriguez-Zarraga was reportedly shooting out the window and recovered a number of spent shell casings, according to the affidavit.

It’s not clear from the affidavit how seriously the victim was hurt, but it says the man was shot in the chest.

Rodriguez-Zarraga made his first court appearance Monday on a single misdemeanor charge of reckless endangering, which is punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of not more than $750, or both.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Magazine In His Boot"}]

Video surveillance from the Cowboy Bar confirms the men were there prior to the highway shooting, the affidavit says.

“During the video review, you could clearly see multiple Hispanic males inside the bar drinking together,” the affidavit says. “At around 1:18, several of the males left the bar and did not return.”

Also, Rodriguez-Zarraga “admitted to being drunk and stated he had been partying in Baggs earlier that evening,” the affidavit says.

The gun was found in a pocket on the back of the seat in front of the rear passenger, and was later determined to have been stolen out of Bell County, Texas, Patterson wrote.

Also, a magazine for the Sig Sauer, loaded with .45-caliber ammunition, was found in Rodriguez-Zarraga’s left boot.

“In the interior of the Raptor, in plain view, a bullet hole could be seen going through the back of the passenger seat and out the front,” the affidavit says. “There was also a red blood-like substance on the passenger seat where (the victim) had been sitting.

“There were also several open alcohol containers throughout the Raptor.”

After calling 911, Colorado deputies caught up with the truck and the driver flashed his lights at the patrol vehicle, which followed it to the hospital, the affidavit says.

The other men in the truck identified Rodriguez-Zarraga as the shooter when interviewed by investigators, saying the gun inadvertently discharged while it was being brought back into the vehicle, Patterson wrote.

The investigation included the Carbon County,  Wyoming, and Moffat County sheriff’s offices, but the shooting is believed to have happened in Baggs, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken says in a statement about the incident.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Second Shooting Incident In A Month"}]

 in the tiny Wyoming border town of Baggs, but on a much smaller scale.

Baggs was on lockdown for a good part of June 8 when a gunman, who has not yet been publicly identified, shot Carbon County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Zachary Burns three times.

Burns was shot in the neck, arm and hip when he confronted the suspect outside his apartment near the southern end of Baggs at about noon that day.

The suspect retreated into his apartment, tried to start the apartment complex on fire with numerous propane takes inside, then sped away in his car again, according to the CCSO.

He was eventually killed in a shootout with law enforcement after crashing his car north of town off state Highway 789.

In the meantime, a pair of nearby Baggs residents 

, likely saving his life, CCSO Sheriff Alex Bakken has previously reported.

In the meantime, Burns continues to recover from his wounds and “has made incredible progress,” Bakken says in a Monday statement updating the sergeant’s condition.

“He still has a long way to go, but Zach is a fighter and he continues to improve daily,” the sheriff says. “He is talking, mobile, and is walking with assistance from medical staff.”

Rodriguez-Zarraga, he’s next scheduled for a Wyoming preliminary hearing on July 14.

Alejandro Rodriguez Zarraga and baggs sign 7 7 26

<title>Colorado Man Accused Of Shooting Buddy With Stolen Gun After Leaving Baggs Bar | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Colorado man is accused of shooting a buddy with a stolen handgun in a truck after leaving a Baggs, Wyoming, bar early Saturday morning. “A bullet hole could be seen going through the back of the passenger seat and out the front,” court documents say.

Colorado Man Accused Of Shooting Buddy With Stolen Gun After Leaving Baggs Bar

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

The Green River City Council is considering whether to approve a nearly $112,000 grant it’s been awarded to install license-plate readers around the city.

Green River applied last year for two Wyoming Office of Homeland Security grants and in January was awarded one for $111,956 to buy and install license plate readers for the police department, says the 

As of this writing, the Green River City Council was set to consider approving the grant at its regular 

Mayor Pete Rust told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday the police department spearheaded the grant application.

The grant consists of federal funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the description says. Its goal is to enhance “the ability of governments and nonprofits to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks.”

Green River Police Chief Shawn Sturlaugson told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday phone interview that the license-plate readers could curb terrorism. He said he anticipates that their commoner use, however, will be expanding law enforcement’s ability to find vehicles implicated in criminal getaway situations or missing-or-vulnerable person cases.

[{"type":"text","text":"“They’re another tool for us,” Sturlaugson said."}]

Currently, officers are far less likely to find a vehicle flagged in the National Criminal Information Center unless they know about it, are looking for it specifically, and happen to cross paths with it, added the chief.

If the city mounts license-plate readers, “As soon as that vehicle rolls into town, my officers will immediately get an alert, start looking for it and hopefully find the vehicle.”

Sturlaugson said runaway Amber and Ashanti alerts and missing or vulnerable persons cases are just as vital a use as responding to criminal incidents.

He said he’s been surprised that, after the City Council agenda went public, people have been voicing criticism of the plan. He said the grant award, in January, was public information.

“We haven’t kept it a secret, I can tell you that,” Sturlaugson said. He said the readers will be Motorola brand, not Flock. He expects the grant to fund the installation and other costs for about four readers, to be placed generally at town entrances. 

Sturlaugson said he heard complaints Tuesday morning “that we’ll use this as some type of proactive, crime-stopping tool,” but that’s not the department’s intention. Nor does the department plan to use the system to stop people for expired registration “or anything like that,” the chief added.

“It’s strictly to identify vehicles or people that are already of some concern, in some way, for law enforcement,” Sturlaugson said.

[{"type":"text","text":"‘It’s Some Bull –“"}]

Marshall Burt, the former lawmaker whom Green River elected in 2020 as the state’s first Libertarian legislator, bristled in a Tuesday interview with Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It’s some bullshit,” Burt said. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He cast the agreement’s stated goal of curbing terrorism as dubious."}]

“I mean, if we have that big a case of terrorism in Green River, I imagine we would have heard about it by now,” he said.

 and was deployed to the Anbar Province during the Iraq War, said the grant’s terrorism-related mission poses a false dichotomy.

“This is the argument you’re going to hear: you’re either for the cameras to be against terrorism or you’re against the cameras and you want to promote terrorism,” he said. “Because that’s how stupid politics arguments go all the time.”

Burt said the argument, rather, is about the slippery slope toward pervasive government tracking he says the cameras exacerbate.

“I don’t have an expectation for privacy on a public road. I don’t. My license plate is out there for anybody and everybody to see. I don’t care about that, I understand that when I drive,” he said.

But the growth of data centers, the increased capacity for data storage and transfer, coupled with the camera systems’ own abilities to compile and aggregate data over time, lend concerns about tracking, profiling and behavioral patterning, he added.

[{"type":"text","text":"Burt is not alone in that fear."}]

A number of lawsuits have surfaced nationally, including an April 15 filing in which the Institute for Justice derided the surveillance system in San Jose, California.

“Unlike a police officer posted at an intersection, the cameras see and remember everything,” says the complaint. “Day or night, they photograph every passing car and use AI to analyze the images … Officers can run searches based on a hunch, idle curiosity, or even personal animus.”

Sturlaugson told Cowboy State Daily he’s inclined toward crafting a policy, conversely, that deletes the data after 30 days. He said the policy is in progress.

The Institute for Justice offers draft legislation that would cement Fourth Amendment constraints into laws specifically pertaining to the cameras.

[{"type":"text","text":"Burt said that’s not enough."}]

“It’s a straight no,” he said of welcoming the cameras, with guardrails or without. “The problem with putting in guardrails like everybody talks about is, nothing ever becomes permanent. The next City Council or whoever decides (can) change policy.”

Burt said good intentions rarely hold the line. He referenced the post-9/11 Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law he called “the most abused surveillance system ever put in place against the American people.”

[{"type":"text","text":"A Little Surprised"}]

Rust told Cowboy State Daily he was surprised at the pushback ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’re very proud of the fact that we’re one of the safest cities in the nation,” he said. "Surveillance is a tool the police department uses. This is just another tool.” 

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he doesn’t know of any terrorism concerns in Green River."}]

But on the other hand, the city falls along an interstate, a railroad, and a river. One of the main regional power plants sits in the area.

“We’re in a strategic location because of all those things. So who knows?” Rust said. “Cameras are something that exist all over the place. Everywhere. It’s to help people observe things that could be a concern, so they can have information to take care of it, if it is – keep the community safe.”

Katie Roascio, the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security's public information officer, said in a Tuesday email that the Green River Police Department was the only Wyoming agency that applied for the grants made available last year for license-plate readers.

That was part of a larger, 167-grant application pool from the 2025 grant window, she said.

Other Wyoming towns and communities have license-plate readers. Those are the cities of Jackson and Cheyenne, the entrances to the town of Glenrock, and the entrances to the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The reservation cameras came about through an agreement between the 12-person Wind River Intertribal Council and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

It remains unclear whether any public meetings were held on the reservation cameras prior to their installation. The tribal governments of Wyoming don't fall under the state's public meeting or public record laws. 

Green river license plate reader 7 7 26

<title>Town Of Green River Considers Installing License Plate Readers To Curb 'Terrorism' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Green River City Council is considering finalizing a $112,000 grant it's been awarded to install license-plate readers in the city. The mayor said the cameras could curb terrorism while former Libertarian lawmaker Marshall Burt says it's all "bullshit."

Town Of Green River Considers Installing License Plate Readers To Curb 'Terrorism'

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Law Enforcement

For three days, rafts, jet skis, a jet boat, drones and search dogs have combed the Snake River below a popular cliff-jumping spot near Alpine, all with one goal: bring Tory J. Raether home.

The 55-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, man disappeared Saturday night after leaping into the river at Jump Rock, about a quarter-mile east of the Sheep Gulch Boat Ramp. 

Authorities say he was not wearing a life jacket when the swift current pulled him under. Despite desperate attempts by others in his group to save him, he vanished into the water.

Now, as Star Valley Search & Rescue continues what authorities acknowledge has become a recovery mission, Raether's family and closest friends have gathered in Wyoming, hoping against hope that searchers can give them the one thing they still desperately want — the chance to bring him home.

"The goal is to find their family member and return him to them, so they can have closure," Lincoln County Sheriff M. Shane Johnson told Cowboy State Daily. "That's what we'll continue to work for." 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Searching Every Day"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"On Tuesday, specially trained search dogs joined the effort."}]

Johnson said Star Valley Search & Rescue remains the lead agency, assisted by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Forest Service. Searchers continue working the river daily, looking for any sign of Raether. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The river itself presents constant challenges."}]

"The water is a little bit low, and it's moving swiftly," Johnson said, adding that wearing a life jacket "certainly increases your chance of survival if something does go wrong." 

Changing river conditions create underwater hazards that make recovery efforts difficult.

Johnson said eddies, submerged obstructions and fluctuating water levels mean certain areas become more likely places where a victim could become caught. Search & Rescue volunteers know the river well and focus on those locations while continuing to search the surrounding area. 

"As time goes by, the likelihood of having a positive outcome certainly goes down," Johnson said. "We certainly feel like it's a recovery at this point." 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family And Friends Waiting"}]

While professional rescuers continue searching the river, Raether's loved ones have made their own journey west.

Among those joining them is Brad Johnson, Raether's best friend of 35 years.

Johnson said he learned what had happened when Raether's wife texted him Sunday evening.

"I went out there with him last year in August," Johnson said. "We rafted that very same river." 

[{"type":"text","text":"He said Wyoming was one of Raether's favorite places."}]

"He loved Jackson Hole," Johnson said. "It's one of his favorite spots in the country." 

Raether had traveled west to spend time with family. One of his daughters lives in the Jackson area, and he, his wife and another daughter had come to visit her. 

Johnson said he and another lifelong friend from Wisconsin are traveling to Wyoming to help search alongside Raether's daughter's boyfriend, who works as a rafting guide in Jackson.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We're going to help ... as much as we can to search,\" Johnson said. "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Like A Brother'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"For Johnson, the search is about much more than recovering a missing man."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"It's about finding someone he considered family."}]

"Tory wasn't just a friend to me — he was like a brother," Johnson said. "We were friends for 35 years, and I talked to him almost every day."

Johnson described Raether as someone whose personality drew people in almost instantly.

"He was one of those rare people who made life brighter simply by walking into a room," he said. "I've never known anyone who could make people laugh the way Tory could. Within minutes of meeting him, people felt like they had known him for years."

He said Raether built a successful career as an investment professional but never allowed money to define him.

"Whether he had a dollar or a million dollars, he was exactly the same person," Johnson said. "Success never changed him."

Instead, he devoted his time to mentoring others, volunteering through Kiwanis and Rotary, helping friends build businesses and looking for ways to lift up those around him.

[{"type":"text","text":"More than anything, Johnson said, Raether loved his family."}]

"His wife and his three children were the center of his world, and he spoke about them with tremendous pride and love," he said.

"He's hard to capture in one word," he said, holding back tears. "I'm not kidding. He's the most special person you've ever met." 

Later, he added, "You can't capture Tory in one sentence. It's impossible." 

Tory Raether right Jean Raether left

<title>Search For North Carolina Man Who Disappeared On Snake River Now A Recovery Mission | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The family of a North Carolina man who disappeared after jumping into the Snake River on Saturday shared photos of the 55-year-old that were taken just hours before he was swept away. Authorities have changed the mission from search and rescue to recovery.

Search For North Carolina Man Who Disappeared On Snake River Now A Recovery Mission

After Wyoming’s most famous diesel delete mechanic Troy Lake 

 Nov. 7 from President Donald Trump, he started advocating for other mechanics who, like him, were hit with prison time, fines or both for tampering with diesel emissions systems.

[{"type":"text","text":"Trump pardoned nine more diesel delete mechanics Friday."}]

 before he was pardoned, had advocated for six of those:

Ryan and Wade LaLone, Tim Clancy, Matt Geouge, Mac Spurlock, and Joshua Davis.

Wyoming-based lobbyist Jeff Daugherty and Colorado-based attorney Stewart Cables, who work with Lake and his fledgling group Diesel Freedom Coalition, had represented five of those six (not Davis).

Besides pardon-related advocacy, Lake said his group is working to provide sound emissions evidence and mechanical strategies to policymakers, to persuade them to pivot toward emissions regulations that don’t crush small-time trucking businesses and other fleets.

“Sometimes it makes you think, are we really making any traction? Are we really going anywhere? Because government moves at a snail pace,” Lake reflected in his Monday interview.

Wyoming's most famous diesel “delete" mechanic Troy Lake, who was pardoned by Trump after a prison stint, advocated for the president to pardon at least six more. On Friday, Trump pardoned those six, plus three others.

CSD Staff

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