CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper resident has been charged with a felony after Evansville police say he approached two other men outside Butch’s bar with a shotgun and threatened to “pop” them, according to an affidavit.
James Collett, 29, appeared by video in Natrona County Circuit Court on Thursday from Carbon County, where he is being held on misdemeanor offenses.
Collett is presumed innocent until proven or pleading guilty.
Evansville police were flagged down in the parking lot of Butch’s by two bouncers shortly after closing time in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, according to an affidavit.
The bouncers pointed out a white truck and said the occupants had verbally threatened two other patrons with a gun. The bouncer believed one of the men had a shotgun.
The officer stated in the report that he saw Collett approaching another vehicle with a shotgun, which Collett dropped and walked away from when he saw officers.
Collett was arrested on active warrant at the scene, police said.
The other two men he had been approaching told officers that they had all been in the bar and had gotten into an altercation with Collett and the man with him. They said they didn’t know how the fight started, only that it escalated into Collett and his friend threatening to assault them.
One man said Collett yelled, “Get out of the truck or I am going to pop you!” as he approached them with the shotgun. Police then arrived and the situation de-escalated, the report notes.
Collett was charged Thursday with aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon and reckless endangerment.
Bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety.
