Around Wyoming

Entertainment

Food

Sports

Wyoming Life

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A now-former Newcastle police sergeant already facing felony charges for allegedly staking a nurse and chasing her with a gun faces more charges related to a yearlong pattern of violence that prosecutors say involved a police cruiser, an officer's baton, a department K-9 and, in one instance, an alleged knife threat outside a local lodge.

 following allegations involving a nurse at Weston County Health Services.

Prosecutors last week filed amended misdemeanor and felony charges that combine allegations spanning from July 2025 through May 2026.

Kaminski is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and battery, one count of felonious restraint and three counts of domestic battery.

According to court records, Kaminski is scheduled be in Weston County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face the amended and new new charges.

If convicted on all six counts and ordered to serve consecutive sentences, he could face up to 27½ years in prison.

A request for comment from Newcastle Police Chief Derek Thompson was not returned before publication. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"From The Start"}]

An affidavit filed by Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Ed Rosier outlines three alleged physical confrontations involving Kaminski and a woman he began dating in early 2024.

Investigators were told Kaminski was allegedly verbally abusive throughout much of the relationship, frequently degrading the woman and calling her names. 

Although she reportedly said Kaminski did not typically strike her, she described incidents that left bruises and marks, according to the affidavit.

The first alleged physical altercation happened in July 2025 after Kaminski became angry about another man staying at the woman's home, Rosier wrote. Because she did not want Kaminski around her children, she agreed to meet him at a local gun range instead.

Rosier wrote that witnesses told investigators Kaminski pulled the woman from her vehicle by her arms and threw her keys into a nearby field.

"Kaminski started throwing [her] against the car while screaming and yelling,” the affidavit says.

While shoving her into the vehicle, Kaminski allegedly struck her head, back and body against the car and used his police nightstick to intimidate her.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators later documented bruising, according to the affidavit."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Knifed' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A second alleged incident happened Dec. 10, 2025."}]

According to investigators, the woman drove to the Newcastle Lodge and Convention Center because it was public and well-lit after Kaminski demanded she meet with him.

The affidavit alleges Kaminski followed her in a police vehicle, took her keys, ordered her into his patrol car and physically pulled her from her SUV when she refused.

Rosier wrote that Kaminski then "started cutting his own arm and told her that he would do the same thing to her if she didn't get into his cop car."

The woman later told investigators she believed Kaminski would have "knifed her to death" had she refused to comply.

According to the affidavit, Kaminski then drove her toward the refinery area outside Newcastle, where he continued yelling at her.

The allegations led prosecutors to charge Kaminski with aggravated assault and battery and felonious restraint.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hospital Confrontation"}]

More recent allegations stem from incidents at Weston County Health Services, where the woman worked as a nurse.

On May 10, Kaminski reportedly arrived at the hospital while on duty after transporting an unresponsive patient, according to court documents.

Investigators allege he demanded to speak with the woman while she was treating a patient and confronted her about communicating with another woman.

Hospital surveillance video reviewed by DCI reportedly shows Kaminski, dressed in full police uniform, grabbing the woman's arm and wrist, pulling her down a hallway and backing her into a corner.

The affidavit also cites statements from a witness who reported that Kaminski entered a room, closed the door and stated, "I know there's no f***ing cameras in here."

The witness told investigators Kaminski then threw the woman into cabinets during the confrontation, the affidavit says.

The amended charges are separate from another May incident that originally led to Kaminski's arrest.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Or I'm Coming In' "}]

Kaminski was placed on leave May 22 following concerns involving the same nurse, according to a previously filed affidavit by Weston County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Fields.

That evening, investigators say Kaminski began sending increasingly threatening text messages demanding that the woman come outside and speak with him.

Among the messages cited in court records were: "Hey ur f***ing ass outside. Or I'm coming in,"

"U have 3 minutes to either come out here or answer the phone,” and, "U made this worse by not coming outside."

Just before 4 a.m., the nurse was escorted to her vehicle by a law enforcement officer after finishing her shift.

According to the affidavit, Kaminski emerged from a nearby parking lot and approached her vehicle despite being told she did not want to speak with him.

Investigators say Kaminski cursed at the other officer and sprinted toward the vehicle as the nurse drove away.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"In Custody"}]

Newcastle Police Chief Derek Thompson later located Kaminski and conducted a traffic stop.

A search uncovered a loaded Glock 48 handgun with a round chambered, along with a folding knife and brass knuckles, according to the affidavit.

Kaminski was arrested and booked into the Weston County Detention Center, where he remained in custody as of Friday. 

At his initial appearance on the earlier charges, Circuit Court Judge Matt Castano set a bond at $35,000 cash only and ordered Kaminski to have no contact with the alleged victim.

Court records also show he is prohibited from possessing firearms while the case is pending.

Sgt Nicholas Kaminski in March 2025 6 19 26

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

<title>More Charges For Former Newcastle Cop Accused Of Assaulting And Terrorizing Woman | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A now-former Newcastle police sergeant already charged for allegedly staking and assaulting a woman faces more charges, accused of terrorizing the woman for 10 months. In once instance, he threatened to “knife her to death,” according to court documents.

More Charges For Former Newcastle Cop Accused Of Assaulting And Terrorizing Woman

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Hunting

While investigating a poaching case against a Utah hunting guide, wildlife officials found a video on his cellphone showing him shooting a compound bow at cattle.

In the video, one of the cows jumps after he releases an arrow, as if it might have been struck. The condition of the cattle remains “unknown,” Chase Pili, captain of administrative services for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), told Cowboy State Daily. 

Pili said he wasn’t sure when the video — which was

 — was taken, but charges were filed in the case in February. 

DWR didn’t release the name of the man, who was convicted of attempted destruction of wildlife.

 District Court of Garfield County, Utah. The clerk of court could not be reached for comment. 

The man was under investigation for allegedly poaching a deer, DWR reported. Investigators executed a search warrant on his cellphone and discovered a video of him shooting at cattle.

“In addition to significant legal fees, the suspect now faces a long-term suspension of both his hunting and guiding licenses,” the agency says.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘It’s Appalling’"}]

The video depicts next-level unethical behavior, archery hunter Steve Martin of Rock Springs told Cowboy State Daily.

“It’s appalling, and as a bowhunter, it’s even worse,” said Martin, who represents Bowhunters of Wyoming. “The public will think we’re just out there shooting arrows at everything and that’s not good."

Martin said he’s unaware of any such incidents happening in Wyoming.

“My hope is that would never happen in Wyoming, because that sort of outfitter would never get a license in Wyoming,” he said. 

Mark Eisele, a Cheyenne-area rancher and former president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said cattle abuse is rare in Wyoming.

“I have seen some of it,” he said. “It’s been a little better more recently.”

Most of the cases he’s aware of didn’t seem to involve hunters; rather, they involved people who took their opposition to cattle grazing on public land to extremes.

“At the height of it, when activists were raising a fuss, we had cattle shot alongside the road,” he said. “We’ve had cases where people rammed into cattle with their vehicles and broke the cattle’s legs."

There were also instances of vandalism, such as fences being cut or holes shot in water tanks, Eisele said, adding that things have calmed down considerably. 

“I think some of the activists feel that maybe cattle on public lands are a good thing,” he said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Disregard For Life’"}]

Eisele said that most hunters are well-behaved. 

“They almost always ask for permission for access, and we almost always grant it,” he said. 

The behavior depicted in the video is an anomaly, Eisele added. 

“Some people do it because they want to watch something die,” he said. “That just blatant. That’s just disregard for property and disregard for life.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Careless Shooting"}]

Evanston-area rancher Vance Broadbent told Cowboy State Daily that he hasn’t had problems with his cattle being shot.

“I haven’t experienced anything like that here,” Broadbent said. "We coordinate with an outfitter, so hunters on our property have a guide with them and they are monitored closely."

Shooting cattle is a rarity in Wyoming, Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, told Cowboy State Daily. 

“We do get occasional reports of it,” he said. 

“It’s not so much formal hunters as it is people out target practicing and maybe hitting a cow by being careless,” Magagna said.

Shoots cows with arrow 6 19 26

<title>Utah Hunting Guide Accused Of Poaching Also Caught Shooting At Cows With Bow | Cowboy State Daily</title>

While investigating a Utah hunting guide for poaching a deer, wildlife officials came across a video of him shooting at cows with a bow. “It’s appalling,” says a Rock Springs bowhunter. “That sort of outfitter would never get a license in Wyoming."

Utah Hunting Guide Accused Of Poaching Also Caught Shooting At Cows With Bow

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Wildlife

When a massive bull bison died next to a busy road in Yellowstone National Park, the park’s rangers, bear management team, and maintenance crews had to get creative to quickly and safely dispose of it.

April Mead, a wildlife photographer based in Gardiner, Montana, spent three hours watching 

 unfold near Canyon Village on Friday morning. A front-end loader was needed to lift the 2,000-pound bison and drop it into a dump truck.

Meanwhile, the bear management team kept everyone safe from the hungry eyes of a determined grizzly.

“The grizzly came back while they were in the process of moving the carcass,” she said. “She was circling the hillside and the corrals. They had to haze her a couple of times before she left.”

Mead has seen and shared images of Yellowstone’s carcass removal process before, but this one was notably different. It seemed as if the park’s experienced staff were improvising the best way to get the job done quickly and safely.

“It’s different from all the others I’ve seen,” she said. “They spent a lot of time strategizing before they got it done.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Carcass Chaos"}]

Mead got to the carcass around 6 a.m. Friday. She’d heard that there was a dead bison alongside the road near Artist’s Point, south of Canyon Village, one of the busiest sections of Yellowstone once the day starts.

“I’d heard that (the bison) might have gotten hit by a car Thursday night,” Mead said.

Mead wasn’t the first one on the carcass that morning. A grizzly was already helping itself to the free meal, and a lone wolf also stopped by for a bite of breakfast.

Once Yellowstone’s rangers and the bear management team arrived, the wolf and the grizzly ran off. The grizzly didn’t go far.

“She lingered down the road for quite some time,” Mead said. “She ended up traveling back and coming down toward (the carcass), so they had to haze her a few times.”

With a massive bison carcass that had already attracted Yellowstone’s top predators, the Yellowstone crews had to work fast to get the bison away from the road.

“They had to move quickly,” Mead said. “It’s a tight area with a lot of traffic.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That proved to be more difficult than they had anticipated."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Carcass Creativity"}]

Animal carcasses are frequently moved and relocated in Yellowstone to put some distance between scavenging wildlife and the thousands of tourists who always congregate around them.

. The park’s staff have the process down to a science, usually using two trucks and a winch to get the job done.

“It’s like a pulley system,” she said. “One truck acts as a pivot, and then they use a winch to pull the bison out of the field and into the back of another truck.”

That didn’t work this time. According to Mead, as soon as they got a rope around the bison carcass and tried towing it, the rope snapped.

[{"type":"text","text":"By then, a massive front loader had arrived. "}]

If the two-truck method isn’t viable, the park’s staff will use a front loader to scoop up a carcass and lift it onto a waiting truck.

Mead’s seen that technique before as well. It also didn’t work this time.

“I think they weren't able to get underneath it to scoop it up into the front loader, and also it was very big,” she said.

[{"type":"text","text":"After taking some time to strategize, the crew came up with a new plan."}]

They tied a ratchet strap around the bison’s head and a chain around one of the back legs. They attached the strap and the chain to the front loader’s bucket, lifted the massive carcass into the air, and lowered it into the back of a dump truck.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It was like a roast,” Mead said."}]

Finally, the carcass was off the road and on a truck where it could be carried off to a safe and secret dump site, where the local wildlife could feast at their leisure. Mead saw it as a creative and effective way to deal with the situation.

“I felt it would be inappropriate to clap,” she said once it was over.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Early Bird Gets The Shot (And Stink)"}]

By 10 a.m., the bison carcass had been hauled away. Mead said the entire operation took around three hours, but there was still a lot of work to do.

“Traffic’s moving now, but the majority of it isn’t cleaned up,” she said. “They had to bring water out here because there was blood and guts all over the road.”

Mead, who’s been documenting incredible Yellowstone experiences for years, said this incident was a good example of what it takes to be an effective photographer. 

It’s a lot of stick-to-itiveness, seizing the right initiatives, and exercising a lot of patience.

“You have to get to it and be willing to wait,” she said. “A majority of my time this morning was waiting for the front loader to get there.”

[{"type":"text","text":"And then there’s the smell."}]

“You have to be ready to deal with the smell,” she said. “It smells pretty bad out here right now. Like gross feet.”

There’s also a lesson about how dangerous Yellowstone’s roads can be at night, especially if someone’s going over the 30-mph speed limit on most of the Grand Loop Road. 

If the bison was killed by a vehicle strike, it would have had to have been a hard strike at significant speed.

Mead didn’t follow the truck hauling the bison carcass away, but she suspects the determined grizzly did. She gave the massive bull a small sendoff.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Bye bye, bison,” she said. “Rest in pieces.”"}]

Bison bulldoze 2 6 20 26

<title>Yellowstone Rangers Bulldoze 2,000-Pound Bison Roadkill While Grizzly Circles | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Yellowstone rangers used a front-end loader and creativity to get a 2,000-pound bison carcass away from a busy road near Canyon Village on Friday. A wildlife photographer said a grizzly was circling the area determined to have the roadkill for breakfast.

Yellowstone Rangers Bulldoze 2,000-Pound Bison Roadkill While Grizzly Circles

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

Greg Johnson

Courts

CHEYENNE — The mother of a 22-year-old man who shot and killed himself while handcuffed and in custody in a police cruiser in January has filed a wrongful death petition that could be the precursor to suing the Cheyenne Police Department.

In a May 27 petition to be appointed the wrongful death representative for her son Aiden Hall, attorneys for Dani Hall are seeking legal authority to “investigate and prosecute a wrongful death claim.”

While he couldn’t speak to Aiden Hall’s case specifically, Gillette attorney Tom Lubnau said that this type of petition is typically the first step in suing over a wrongful death claim.

“You have to do that first,” he said, adding that it also is needed to negotiate settlements over those types of claims.

After Dani Hall is legally recognized to represent her son’s interests, a two-year statute of limitations begins on filing a wrongful death claim, if she chooses, Lubnau said.

The allegation of wrongful death stems from the Jan. 18 death of Aiden Hall, who was detained by Cheyenne Police Department (CPD) officers while they were investigating a single-vehicle crash, according to CPD reports.

Officers removed a pocketknife from Aiden Hall's front pocket after detaining him and prior to handcuffing him, but missed a handgun he was carrying.

While secured in the back of the police vehicle, Aiden Hall was able to move his handcuffs from behind his back to the front of his body, then retrieved a concealed firearm from inside his pants, the CPD reported shortly after the incident.

When the officers returned to the car, they discovered Hall had shot himself.

In follow-up internal investigations into the suicide, Cheyenne police reported that standard policies had 

 and that the agency identified “opportunities to enhance and clarify” the agency’s procedures.

More specifically, the CPD’s investigation also found that the officers involved never searched Aiden Hall before putting him into the car, as reported by the 

Multiple messages left for Dani Hall’s attorneys with the Jackson-based Spence Law Firm to clarify if the intent is to bring a wrongful death lawsuit weren’t returned by the time this story was published.

Messages left for the Cheyenne City Attorney’s Office and Dani Hall also weren’t returned.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"How Was A Gun Missed?"}]

Dani Hall learned soon after the shooting that her firstborn son had shot himself while handcuffed and sitting alone in the back of a police car, she told Cowboy State Daily five days later.

She said she couldn’t grasp how police could find a pocketknife in his pocket, but miss a gun.

“How did they find a pocketknife and not a full-sized pistol?” she asked. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody else’s family. So avoidable.”

 at the time that she didn’t want to see the in-car video.

She said she would speak with an attorney about possible litigation, and that her attorney would review the video for her at some point.

Still, she said she questioned the deputy coroner about it.

“Did he say anything before he did it?” Dani asked the deputy, according to her recollection. 

She said the deputy coroner’s answer was, “No, he was just crying.”

Dani said she learned that the gun was a 9 mm pistol, and she couldn’t understand how officers could have missed that when they detained him.

The Cheyenne Police Department investigation report reveals the answer to that: he wasn’t searched.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Arrest"}]

The night of Jan. 17-18, Aiden Hall was about 8 miles from home after spending the night out. 

He was in his third year of training to become an electrician, and was based in Cheyenne for a Colorado electrical company, Dani Hall told Cowboy State Daily in January, adding that he was working to buy his home.

Aiden Hall was facing the potential end of a long-term relationship, and “he was sad about the uncertainty,” his mother said.

Near the intersection of West 9th Street and Deming Drive in south Cheyenne, Aiden Hall missed a turn and hit a guardrail. 

He got out of his truck and rushed away on foot, while a nearby homeowner called police, according to his mother’s account.

A statement about the incident that the Cheyenne Police Department released five days later reported that officers were called to the scene at 1:17 a.m.

Officers arrived to find a maroon pickup parked on the sidewalk looking like it had struck a guardrail then come to rest on the roadside grass, the statement says.

They found a man running along Deming Drive and spoke to him long enough to determine he was the owner of the truck. 

He “showed signs of intoxication and admitted to consuming alcohol,” the statement says.

Officers removed a pocketknife from the man's front pocket, handcuffed him, then put him in a police car and took him back to the crash scene, the statement says.

“Officers briefly stepped away to assess the crash scene and prepared to begin a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) investigation,” the agency added.

Aiden Hall was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Cheyenne Police Department conducted an internal investigation into the incident and released a report highlighting the results in early February.

“The administrative review was a comprehensive and thorough process, involving a detailed examination of all available information, including body-worn and in-car camera footage from the incident, as well as a critical assessment of existing departmental policies, training, and procedures,” the report says.

While it doesn’t go into specifics about the investigation’s findings, it did identify “opportunities to enhance and clarify departmental procedures related to the search and transportation of individuals in custody.”

The department said that “a policy violation was also identified,” but the report doesn’t elaborate on which policy or how it was violated.

When contemplating what she’d like the public to remember about Aiden, Dani burst into tears during her January interview with Cowboy State Daily.

“I want them to remember that he was a kind, kind kid who would lend a hand to anybody even if they have differing opinions,” she said. “He would be the first kid to jump in and help when needed.”

He was resourceful from a young age, she said. He turned the family barbecue grill into a metal forge so he could craft knives at age 13. 

Dani said her son loved to learn new skills.

“He’d just set his mind to it and he did it,” she said. “He was a great young man.”

The petition to appoint Dani Hall as her son’s wrongful death representative requires the publication of three public notices, which were published in the June 3, 10 and 17 editions of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Aiden Hall and 9th and Deming IMG 5428 1 23 26

<title>Mother Of Cheyenne Man Who Shot Himself In Police Car Files Wrongful Death Petition | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The mother of a Cheyenne man who shot and killed himself while handcuffed in the back of a police car in January has filed a wrongful death petition. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody else’s family,” the mother said shortly after his death.

Charles Edward “Charlie” Smock, Jr., 89