Wyoming News Briefs

Three men face felony charges for Halloween stabbing in hotel parking lot

GILLETTE (WNE) — Three men have been charged with felonies for allegedly beating up a 42-year-old man on Halloween night.

Justus Pearson, 27, and Rye Sorenson, 27, are being charged with aggravated assault and battery, while Preston Relkin, 24, is being charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and accessory before the fact, as well as battery.

On October 31, police responded to a reported aggravated assault at the Best Western Tower West ho-tel. When they arrived, they saw the three men backing away from a 42-year-old man, who had a stab wound in his right leg, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The victim said the three suspects had chased him from Fireside Bar, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground. They kicked him in the head and punched him multiple times. He said he heard one of the suspects say, “get his knife” and “I am going to cut his ears.”

The two other men allegedly restrained and hit the victim while the third suspect stabbed him.

A witness told police that he saw the victim being pushed out of Fireside by three or four men, and he tried to break up the fight. He pulled a man in a blue shirt with a mustache off of the pile, and saw that he had a knife, according to court documents.

The man with the knife was later identified as Pearson, and police learned the knife belonged to the vic-tim.

Sorenson told police that he, Pearson and Relkin had heard that the victim was a pedophile, and they had told the victim that he was not welcome at Fireside. Sorenson said that when they saw the victim at the bar that night, they decided to confront him.

Sorenson described the confrontation as a “beatdown,” but didn’t remember anything about the knife.

Man charged with eight more counts of sexual abuse in Converse County

GILLETTE (WNE) — A podiatrist who had pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual abuse of a minor in Campbell County has been arrested on eight new sexual abuse charges, this time out of Converse Coun-ty.

Craig Capron has been charged in the Circuit Court of the 8th Judicial District with eight counts of sexual abuse of a minor. Two of the counts are first-degree sexual abuse, five are second-degree sexual abuse and one count is third-degree. They stem from incidents from as early as 2015 and as recent as 2023.

Capron, 59, had been charged with ten counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in Campbell County. Five of those counts happened between August 2015 and August 2016, and the other five took place in May 2017. All 10 counts had the same victim.

This fall, Capron pleaded guilty to four of those counts.

In exchange for his guilty plea, the state had agreed to dismiss the six other counts that he’s been charged with, and the state would recommend a six- to 12-year prison sentence, followed by a super-vised probationary period.

This was before the charges in Converse County were brought forward. Capron has not yet been sen-tenced in the Campbell County case.

In May 2024, someone called the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office after a girl reported that her friend said she had been sexually abused by Capron several times over the past few years, both in Gillette and in Douglas.

Capron had previously been accused of sexual abuse more than 20 years earlier. According to court doc-uments, Capron was caught sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl while he was living in another state. This abuse was reported to law enforcement, but nothing ever came of it. He also sexually abused two other girls.

His church was aware of these allegations and prohibited Capron from teaching children in any capacity.

Former bank employee accused of stealing $500K reaches plea deal

GILLETTE (WNE) — A Gillette man accused of stealing and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars through his former job at First Northern Bank has reached a plea deal.

Bryce Zitterkopf, 35, agreed to plead guilty to drug-endangered child, crimes against intellectual proper-ty, unlawful use of a credit card, theft with intent to deprive, possession of meth and possession of ma-rijuana.

According to the plea arrangement, the state will recommend 25 to 100 months in prison, to run con-currently to a recommended 25 to 60 months for the drug-endangered child and felony possession of meth.

For the unlawful use of a credit card, the state will recommend nine to 10 years in prison, suspended for 10 years of supervised probation, to run consecutive to the sentence of the first three crimes.

In addition, Zitterkopf must pay $462,175.81 in restitution to First Northern Bank.

Zitterkopf was arrested in April on more than 40 felony and misdemeanor counts of unlawful use of a credit card, theft and crimes against intellectual property, according to court documents.

He was accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars by opening credit card lines for himself, expanding their limits, running up charges and waiving the interest through his job at First Northern Bank.

The litany of counts was reduced down to the six financial crime charges he faces now.

By the time Zitterkopf was confronted by bank higher-ups late last year, he admitted to increasing his credit limit on his personal credit card, and owed the bank a balance of $319,431.31 from several cards he created for himself, according to court documents.

While searching his residence, police found about 11 grams of meth and misdemeanor amounts of mari-juana and THC edibles. The endangering children charge stems from Zitterkopf’s roommate’s 1-year-old child sharing the home where he kept meth, according to court documents.

Gordon’s holiday message: One minute can save a life

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and psychologist-suicidologist Kent A. Corso have released an episode of the podcast “One Minute Can Save a Life” aimed at reducing Wyoming’s decades-long high suicide rate and shedding light on improved mental health practices.

The podcast was recorded during a joint visit at the University of Wyoming where both participated in a mental health forum for students, faculty, staff and community members. The holiday season podcast release date is intentional.

“While many enjoy a season filled with feelings of joy and anticipation, the season can be a time of lone-liness and suffering for others,” Corso said.

Hallmark to his Wy We Care Mental Health (WWCMH) Initiative, Gordon continues to advocate for a cul-tural shift from extreme self-reliance to a personal and community mindset that it is OK to not be OK and to seek help, according to a news release. Both agreed cultural change is difficult, though imperative to moving forward with improved mental health.

The governor explained Wyoming listeners who feel overwhelmed can call or text 988 for immediate help to be connected with an understanding Wyoming caregiver.

“I empower all of you to invest in this new culture that normalizes the conversation of seeking assis-tance when needed, and educating yourself on programs and [through] trainings offered in our state so that we can continue the Wyoming spirit of caring for our neighbors,” Gordon said.

Wyoming unemployment rises to 3.3% in November 2024

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Research & Planning section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Ser-vices reported Monday that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased modestly from 3.2% in October to 3.3% in November.

Wyoming’s unemployment rate was higher than its November 2023 level of 2.9%, but much lower than the current U.S. rate of 4.2%.

From October to November, most county unemployment rates followed their normal seasonal pattern and increased. Unemployment rates typically rise in November because of seasonal layoffs in leisure and hospitality and other sectors.

In November 2024, unemployment rates rose from their year-ago levels in every county around the state.

The highest unemployment rates in November were found in western Wyoming. Sublette County’s rate was 4.5%, Teton County’s rate was 4.4%, and Uinta County’s rate was 4.0%. The lowest unemployment rates were reported in Niobrara and Converse counties, each at 2.6%.

Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates show that total nonfarm employment in Wyoming (not seasonally adjusted and measured by place of work) rose from 291,400 in November 2023 to 295,100 in November 2024, an increase of 3700 jobs (1.3%).

December unemployment data will be published on Jan. 29.