Wyoming News Briefs SEPTEMBER 27

Escaped inmates’ truck found in Laramie

LARAMIE (WNE) — A stolen pick-up believed to have been commandeered by two inmates who escaped from a Wyoming prison camp was abandoned in Laramie on Monday.

The Ford F-150, which belongs to the city of Newcastle, was dumped outside of Gem City Roofing Company on Monday. However, the pick-up was not reported to police until Thursday.

Police now suspect the two fugitives, who escaped from the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp on Sunday, are responsible for taking a black 2005 Suburu Forester, which was reported stolen in Laramie on Monday.

WHCC Inmates Jason Green and Robert Simpson remain at large.

Green and Simpson escaped on foot from WHCC, a minimum custody facility, on Sunday and are alleged to have stolen the truck in Newcastle later that night.

On Wednesday, Newcastle police discovered the uniforms that Green and Simpson had been wearing at the time of their escape. The uniforms were found in the same area where the truck was stolen.

Green is 5 foot, 10 inches, approximately 170 lbs, with gray hair and blue eyes. He is 48 years old and was last seen wearing brown tortoise-shell eyeglasses. He has no distinguishing scars or tattoos.

Simpson is 5 foot, 10 inches, approximately 165 lbs, with blond hair and blue eyes. He is 30 years old. He has a scar on the bridge of his nose, on right forearm, and on the left hand. He has a tattoo of a domino and hell cat on his right arm with other tattoos on his chest, abdomen and back.

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Scammers target Campbell County in wake of ransomware attack

GILLETTE (WNE) — As Campbell County Health works to restore its computer systems after last week’s ransomware attack, it’s dealing with another problem: scammers.

According to a press release, CCH has received reports that some residents have received phone calls claiming to be from CCH offering to help restore their patient portals or asking for health information.

These calls are not originating from CCH.

Do not provide any personal information to an individual or business that you don’t know. The only calls originating from CCH are from Powder River Surgery Center and the Campbell County Memorial Hospital Surgery Department.

Calls from CCH partners regarding billing, collection and bad debt accounts are continuing. These calls may originate from local or out-of-state numbers.

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Convicted murderer charged in inmate stabbing

TORRINGTON (WNE) – A convicted murderer and Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution inmate has been charged with a pair of felony counts after allegedly stabbing another inmate in the head and neck with a homemade knife on Sept. 10.

Laziur Stephen Hanway, Jr. went before Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Nate Hibben for an initial hearing on Sept. 20 after being booked into the Goshen County Detention Center.

Hanway is charged with attempted murder in the first degree, which carries a maximum life sentence and a $10,000 fine, and aggravated assault and battery, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Hibben set Hanway’s bond at $1,000,000 cash, but it’s purely procedural as Hanway is serving a life sentence after being convicted on two second degree murder charges in Fremont County in 2013.

The victim, Christopher Edrington, remains in critical condition.

According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause in Hanway’s case, filed by Torrington Police Department Sgt. Patrick Connelly, the assault was captured on the prison’s video security system. Connelly described the weapon used by Hanway as “ a straightened piece of cylindrical metal, possibly a section of chain link fence which was wrapped with tape and cloth to make a handle and ground to a point at the end.”

The affidavit states Edrington received seven puncture wounds, including wound to the neck and face.

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Two UW football players arrested

LARAMIE (WNE) — Two University of Wyoming football players were arrested Wednesday in Laramie, making for the second and third arrests of UW athletes in a week.

Sophomore cornerback Azizi Hearn was arrested Wednesday night on a charge of driving under suspension and reckless driving. Senior cornerback Antonio Hall, also in the vehicle being driven by Hearn, was also arrested on a warrant for failure to comply. An Albany County Detention Center deputy could not provide any more information about the circumstances of Hearn’s arrest by press time Wednesday.

Both men bailed out Thursday morning.

Hull was named one of UW’s starting cornerbacks out of spring practice. However, Hull missed the first three games to return to his native California and deal with what UW coach Craig Bohl described as a personal matter. He was active last week during Tulsa’s game for the first time this season.

Hearn has played in every game this season, including a start against Tulsa last week. He’s recorded seven tackles this season, including six solo.

The arrests won’t change either player’s status on the depth chart, UW spokesman Tim Harkins told WyoSports on Thursday.

Hearn and Hull’s arrests follow a Sept. 19 incident that resulted in charges being filed against 18-year-old Allen Smith III for aggravated assault and battery, a felony punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, for pulling an unloaded gun on two people and pulling the trigger repeatedly, according to a police affidavit of probable cause.

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Missing Lander man’s body found

RIVERTON (WNE) — Fremont County Search Sheriff’s deputies found a Lander man deceased Monday, after he had been missing for a week.

David Paul Hubble, 55, was reported to have gone into the Cold Springs, Wolf Point, Fossil Hill, or Browns Canyon areas near Lander on Sept. 16. He was scouting for good elk-hunting spots.

When Hubble did not return, Fremont County Search and Rescue volunteers spent “countless” hours searching for him, according to a press release by Undersheriff Mike Hutchison.

He was discovered near his Arctic Cat side-by-side UTV in the bottom of a steep ravine near Grand Cedars Road south of Lander.

“It was apparent to investigators that the UTV had rolled over while traveling off-road, on a steep sidehill,” the report states.

Investigators observed that Hubble appeared to have been killed in the crash after having been ejected from his UTV as it rolled several times into the bottom of the ravine. The crash scene was several hundred yards from roadways and “was obscured from view from all directions until very close to the scene.”