It has not been hard to collect unusual police stories in Wyoming in recent months. For example:

         • In Shoshoni, two town police officers have reportedly been dismissed over an incident where they allegedly tased a blind man during a ruckus over cats defecating all over the neighborhood.

         Subsequently, the purported cat owner L. J. Faith filed a  $1 million lawsuit against the town and the two officers.  Not sure how the case will turn out, but Faith’s lawyer Charles Pelkey of Laramie says, “We want to get our client as much as we possibly can.  Think about it. The guy is blind. He was tased on his front porch for cats crapping in somebody else’s yard.”

         Faith is 53, legally blind and receives disability payments.

         The town’s police chief and an officer answered a complaint about the cats pooping in neighbors’ yards. There were also complaints about an overwhelming and devastating smell emanating from Faith’s house because of the abundance of cats in the residence. It is believed there were 10 to 15 cats in the home.

         To make this whole situation even crazier, after answering the door, Faith wrapped his arms around a post on his porch to prevent folks who he could not see from hauling him away.   The officers first tried the taser, which they had been trained on earlier that day, but it did not work.  They thought they could just tase Faith’s arm and he would let go.

         Then one of the officers accidently tased himself when one of the prongs stuck into his index finger. The other prong struck the other officer in the forehead.

         After we assume a few moments of collecting their senses and getting organized, the officers went after the cat lover again.

         This time, they reloaded the taser and blasted Faith, who then fell to the ground.

         A Fremont County Sheriffs deputy arrived and found one probe had hit Faith in the groin. 

         News reports said Faith was handcuffed and hauled to the Riverton hospital.  He was booked into Fremont County jail for 22 hours, according to his attorney, who said: “From what I hear, being tased is rather painful and I can imagine it’s doubly frightening when you are blind and there are cops running around you, grabbing at you.”

         Pelkey says this case is close to being resolved and he could not discuss it in the press.

• Casper policemen surely did not think when they joined the force they would become the “sex patrol” but lately that is what has been happening.

         Police arrested a couple in their mid-40s after fellow moviegoers reported the man and woman were performing a sex act in the back row of a theater.

         It was during the movie Godzilla. The couple was making so much noise that fellow moviegoers contacted the theater manager.

The manager asked the amorous twosome to stop. But they were drunk and refused and went back to their activities.  The manager called the cops.

         It was not reported how thrilled the local policemen were to be on exhibitionist patrol. The man and woman were arrested and charged with public intoxication and indecent exposure.

         It might be noted the woman had a bottle of Fireball whiskey in her purse, which is a cinnamon-flavored drink  popular with young people.

         • That same drink, Fireball, was implicated in a second arrest by Casper police involving public indecency.

         They arrested a 49-year old man for having sex with a woman up against the outside wall of the Casper Post Office at 11:30 p.m. 

Officers originally saw a car parked in two spaces and went to investigate and found the couple engaged.

         The man, who tested drunk at .16 (twice the legal limit) said he “had an urge” and consummated his efforts with a woman who was also arrested for public indecency. He had “four or five beers” plus several shots of Fireball, he reported.

         Much of the detail of the two Casper stories came from trib.com.

• The Gillette News-Record reports that a 32-year old woman in that city was arrested after punching and slapping her 30-year old husband.

         Apparently, the couple had entered into ménage de trios with a 35-year old neighbor woman and the wife became irritated with her husband over how it was going.  She battered her husband about the neck and head, according to police reports.

         Police Lt. Chuck Deaton was quoted as saying: “I’m guessing he was enjoying the neighbor a little too much.”