Man uses bed sheets to rappel from third-story hotel room and escape deputies

GILLETTE — A 26-year-old man eluded deputies multiple times Saturday night, once after initially contacted during a traffic stop and a second time when he rappelled out of a third story hotel window using multiple bed sheets he tied together.

He was first contacted in a blue 2014 Ford Explorer outside of the Towne Places Suites hotel on Second Street in Gillette around 11 p.m Saturday. He was in the back seat of the SUV along with two women, 26 and 33, who were in the front seats, said Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds.

While the deputy stood by the driver’s side door and tried identifying everyone inside, the 26-year-old man fled the SUV through the back passenger side door and took off on foot.

Deputies later learned he had fled to the Super 8 motel, not far from where the initial stop occurred, and sought a search warrant for the third floor room he checked into. While that search warrant was being signed, the 26-year-old escaped through the third story window by rappelling down the side using multiple bed sheets he tied together, Reynolds said.

The man has an outstanding warrant and more charges pending, Reynolds said. He has also evaded deputies on at least one other occasion in recent weeks.

The investigation continues.

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Cody Police investigating Monday morning armed robbery at Holiday Inn

CODY – Cody Police officers are investigating an alleged armed robbery early Monday morning at the Holiday Inn, according to a department release.

At 5:09 a.m., officers responded to the hotel on a report of a robbery at the front desk.  

Upon their arrival, officers spoke with witnesses and learned a masked female wearing a black hooded sweatshirt entered the front door of the hotel and approached a front desk clerk. The suspect demanded money as she lifted the side of her sweatshirt to expose a holstered pistol on her hip. According to the release, the clerk placed money in a bag and gave it to the suspect. The suspect then walked out the front door and left in an unknown direction. 

The suspect is described as female, approximately 20-30 years old, medium build, 5’3” to 5’7” in height, who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a black gator-type face mask.  

Officers canvassed the area and were unable to locate the suspect.

There are no suspects at this time. 

This case is still under investigation and there is no further information available  at this time. 

If anyone has any information regarding this case, please contact Cody Police Det. Sgt. Trapp Heydenberk at (307) 527-8700. 

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Gordon rescinds Public Health Emergency declaration

CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon signed an Executive Order on Monday rescinding the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

To facilitate efforts to address the state’s nursing shortage, the governor signed a separate executive order to allow working nurses time to get licensed in Wyoming, according to a news release.

Executive Order 2022-03, “Executive Order Rescinding Declaration Of A State Of Emergency And Public Health Emergency,” immediately rescinds Executive Order 2020-2.

“Wyoming has done a wonderful job in persevering through the pandemic,” Gordon said in a prepared statement Monday. “The emergency is over, but people’s responsibility to one another is not. There is one lingering concern – Wyoming’s shortage of healthcare workers. This shortage includes nurses, and has existed long-before COVID and was only exacerbated by the pandemic. Therefore, Executive Order 2022-02, “Nurse And Nursing Assistant Staffing Emergency And Temporary Relief,” is effective today and remains in effect for 60 days.”

That order allows nurses and nursing assistants licensed in other jurisdictions to provide nursing care in Wyoming in order to address staffing shortages.