State Briefs

Buffalo resident earns rare hunting opportunity

SHERIDAN (WNE) – James Kozisek’s friends have done the math, and the odds of this happening are very, very, very small.

“I believe they said the odds were 0.0000006%,” Kozisek said. “That’s six zeroes, so it’s an incredibly small chance.”

The Buffalo police officer and lifetime hunter won the prize to end all prizes: the Super Tag Trifecta, a chance to hunt three animals of his choice anywhere in the state this fall.

Sara DiRienzo, public information officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said a total of 124,602 tickets were sold for the Super Tag drawing this year. Kozisek was one of 11 winners of the drawing this year, and one of two from Wyoming. The other winners hail from everywhere from Connecticut to Washington.

Created by Gov. Matt Mead and the Wyoming Legislature in 2013, the Super Tag raffle provides hunters a chance to win rare hunting opportunities and raises money for wildlife management in Wyoming.

As Trifecta winner, Kozisek has the chance to hunt three of the following this fall: antelope, deer, elk, bighorn sheep, black bear, grey wolf, moose, mountain goat, mountain lion and wild bison.

Kozisek said he plans to hunt mule deer near Dubois; elk near Cody and Meeteetse, and mountain goat north of Cody.

The dollars raised through the Super Tag drawing — roughly $1.6 million this year and $9.2 million since the program’s inception — goes to conservation projects, DiRienzo said.

Tickets for the 2023 Super Tag raffle are on sale now through Jan. 31, 2023, at the WGFD website. Super Tags for individual species cost $10 apiece, while Trifecta tickets cost $30.

Deputies find 300 pounds of marijuana in California man’s car

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 33-year-old California man will be facing multiple drug charges after nearly 300 pounds of marijuana was found in his car Thursday morning.

Leng See Chang was driving a 2008 Toyota RAV4 north on Highway 50 when he was pulled over just south of the Little Store for speeding 64 mph in a 55 mph zone, said Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Seeman.

Deputies could see that something inside the car was covered up with a sleeping bag. Chang told them there was a few hundred pounds of marijuana in the car.

Inside, they found 296.7 pounds of marijuana.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s figures on the national average street value of weed, which is based on much smaller amounts, this marijuana is worth about $1.2 million, Seeman said. If someone were buying 300 pounds of pot, the cost would be lower, he said.

Chang has not yet been charged, but he will be once the investigation is complete, Seeman said.

Suspect killed in gunfire exchange with deputy identified

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office has identified the suspect killed over the weekend amid an exchange of gunfire with a deputy. The deputy survived the shooting and has been described as doing OK.

In a brief statement Monday providing updated details of the shooting incident, LCSO said that “the deceased suspect from this shooting incident has been identified as 31-year-old Rance Tillman of Cheyenne.”

No further details about Tillman were available from local authorities. He does not appear to have a criminal record involving any felonies in Laramie County, based on a search performed for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle by an official in the Laramie County District Court Clerk’s Office.

On Saturday, a deputy had been shot but survived after a suspect in a robbery of a student at Laramie County Community College later opened fire following a brief, slow-speed chase. The shooting incident occurred in approximately the 3500 block of Miles Court.

As of Monday, the sheriff’s deputy remained in the hospital at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and still was in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said. LCSO further described the deputy’s condition as “still recovering”.

The deputy-involved shooting incident continues to be under investigation by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. DCI typically investigates such incidents for LCSO, and Sheriff Danny Glick had requested this involvement.

Once DCI finishes its review, it may write a report, according to Forrest Williams, interim director of the state agency. “Our report on this situation will be provided to the district attorney’s office,” Williams told the WTE Saturday.