CASPER, Wyo. — The driver of the 2019 International Box Truck that rammed police vehicles and charged against traffic during a high-profile chase through Casper last summer was sentenced to four to nine years in state prison on Wednesday.
Eduardo Bonilla-Bravo, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon (the truck) and felony property destruction. Some Casper police officers involved sustained non life-threatening injuries.
District Attorney Dan Itzen also asked that Bonilla-Bravo pay $107,746.12 to the City of Casper. Judge Dan Forgey imposed the restitution amount to the sentence.
Bonilla-Bravo’s attorney, Kurt Infanger, noted that his client was on methamphetamine that day and “has no recollection of the events.”
Bonilla-Bravo is also believed to be responsible for starting the small grass fire behind the Motel 6 that alerted law enforcement around 5:01 a.m. on the morning of July 19, a Tuesday.
A responding Casper police officer encountered the white Budget box truck maneuvering contrary to traffic laws and attempted to stop it. Bonilla-Bravo then rammed the officer’s vehicle twice and attempted to do so a third time before fleeing south on North Poplar Street.
The chase continued along the length of Poplar Street, during which Bonilla-Bravo charged other first responder vehicles and drove against traffic, forcing those in his path to take evasive measures. He also sideswiped a civilian vehicle parked along the roadway in the area of East 17th Street and South Poplar.
The chase continued onto Garden Creek Road, where Bonilla-Bravo drove over spike strips and rammed another CPD patrol vehicle, causing the box truck to overturn in the area of Rotary Park Road.
Investigators said Bonilla-Bravo was not trapped in the overturned cab and that he refused commands and presented a danger to officers. He was also seen attempting to light various portions of the inner cab on fire, the affidavit said.
Scanner traffic on the day of the incident indicates that Bonilla-Bravo was ultimately subdued with Tasers. It was nearly an hour before law enforcement could forcibly remove him.
On the day of the incident, a moving company out of Oakland, California, contacted Natrona County Public Safety Communications to say that Bonilla-Bravo had left the Motel 6 and abandoned two other employees.
Natrona County Sheriff’s Office investigators were granted a search warrant for the truck. The search of the truck found materials such as packing tape and stacks of flattened moving boxes.
“No information was learned to indicate that this vehicle or incident had any involvement in drug trafficking or human trafficking,” said Public Information Officer Kiera Grogan in a statement to Oil City News.
“Through the investigation it appears that the events and actions taken by Eduardo Bonilla-Bravo on July 19th were an isolated incident.”
