State Briefs

Bus driver arrested for DUI while driving kids

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A bus driver for Laramie County School District 1 was arrested Wednesday evening – with high school kids aboard – for allegedly driving under the influence during a field trip, according to local and state officials. 

The incident took place on a highway in Goshen County as the driver transported East and South high schools’ students on a trip out of state, according to the authorities. After receiving a call that the bus driver wasn’t staying in his lane of travel, a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer pulled over the vehicle after observing such behavior.

The bus driver, 60-year-old David R. Williams, was arrested for misdemeanor DUI-alcohol and for having an open container of booze in a moving vehicle. That is according to state and county officials; a Goshen County Sheriff’s Office employee said that, as of Thursday afternoon, Williams was still in jail.

While the bus was pulled over, on the side of northbound U.S. Highway 85 (at mile marker 71), the vehicle was kept warm and the kids stayed inside, said a Highway Patrol spokesperson. A trooper stayed with the bus before the alternate driver arrived, Sgt. Jeremy Beck said in a telephone interview.

The substitute driver then took over the bus and continued the trip to Spearfish, South Dakota, said a spokesperson for the LCSD1 school district. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle was not able to immediately get a copy of the arrest and/or booking reports.

Bills to stop ‘crossover voting’ offered

SHERIDAN (WNE) — Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Parkman, introduced two bills Tuesday, both of which are intended to enhance election integrity by limiting party affiliation changes and prohibiting submission of absentee ballots without proper documentation ahead of this year’s primary and general elections. 

Biteman’s first bill, Senate File No. 97, would limit party affiliation changes ahead of the primary election Aug. 16. Biteman introduced a similar bill in 2018 but it died in committee before the 2019 legislative budget session. 

Under current Wyoming law, voters may change their party affiliation at the polls on the day of the primary or general election or when requesting an absentee ballot. If passed, the bill would require voters to declare or change their party affiliation changes by May 12, the day the candidate filing period begins. 

In a press release Wednesday, Biteman said the bill would hinder “crossover voting,” or members of one political party change party affiliation — perhaps on election day — to vote in the competing party’s primary election.

“This practice has been going on for far too long in our state. It is not fair, it is not right, and it is harming the integrity of our party nomination process,” Biteman said. 

The second bill, Senate File No. 96, would prohibit what Biteman called “ballot harvesting,” or individuals and groups gathering or submitting completed absentee ballots from other voters without written and official authorization by the voters.

Man pleads no contest to punching his mother, threatening brother with knife

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A man accused of punching his mother and threatening his brother with a knife pleaded no contest to two charges Monday in Laramie County District Court. 

Guillermo Diaz-Quintor Jr. had been charged with felony possession of a weapon with intent and misdemeanor domestic battery, first offense, as part of a plea agreement. Laramie County District Judge Steven Sharpe did not enter the plea, however, as Diaz-Quintor could receive a first-offender deferral at sentencing. Sharpe set his sentencing for May 23. 

The state and DiazQuintor agreed to sixth months of probation for the domestic battery charge, with a suspended sentence of 180 days of incarceration. 

Ross McKelvey, DiazQuintor’s appointed attorney, said his client was pleading no contest rather than guilty because of his mental state at the time of the offense, the amount of time that had elapsed since the incident and because he has since been in a car crash. 

McKelvey also said during the court hearing that Diaz-Quintor had been declared not competent at one point and had spent some time in the State Hospital. However, McKelvey said, he believed his client to now be competent and said he understood what was going on. 

According to court documents, early in the morning on Sept. 23, 2020, a woman told a deputy that her son, Diaz-Quintor, had punched her in the face and threatened her older son – DiazQuintor’s brother – with a knife. 

Diaz-Quintor eventually put the knife down when he was about two feet away from his brother.  He was found hiding in a bedroom closet when deputies arrived.