October 6, 2022 |
As reported by Bigfoot 99 early Monday morning, two male juveniles stole a white Jeep Commander in Casper and drove it to Bairoil.
Once in Bairoil, they stole Gary Engstrom’s Chevy Tahoe. The suspects managed only to make it about two miles from the Engstrom’s before rolling both trucks into a ditch out front of JR and Stephanie Bagley’s home. Afterwards, the youths took Bagley’s truck and led him on a high-speed pursuit, south, into Rawlins, that ended with the vehicle wedged under a Union Pacific train car.
Stephanie Bagley said her husband is a light sleeper. Around 3:30 a.m., JR was asleep in the living room when he heard a noise outside of their house. This was the sound of the suspects crashing. He got up to look, but not seeing any lights, he went back to sleep. Around 30 minutes later, he was woken up by his truck starting.
Bairoil is a community of only 209 residents. Bagley said people there don’t lock their front doors. She said most people, including her husband, leave their vehicles unlocked with the keys inside. Not her, though.
Bagley said the suspects stole a box of .22 caliber shells from another of their vehicles before they left in her husband’s truck. JR pursued the juveniles in Stephanie’s Nissan Versa. With speeds exceeding 120 miles an hour, Bagley kept his vehicle in sight until the suspects crashed in Rawlins.
The suspects fled from the wreck with Bagley’s pistol and holster. Luckily, police were able to quickly recover the handgun. The holster was missing until Tuesday, when someone found it and turned it into the Rawlins PD. Bagley said that Lieutenant Daria Hooper told her they needed to keep the gun and holster for evidence.
The crash totaled the truck. Bagley said the suspects hit so hard the vehicle
got stuck under the train requiring special equipment to remove.
Bagley wondered why the juveniles chose to come to Bairoil. She was told by Rawlins PD the Jeep was running out of fuel and the closest gas station was closed for the night. Bagley believed that’s when the suspects saw the small town.
One of the youths was treated in Rawlins for minor injuries. No one else was hurt. Bagley said it was fortunate that nobody died during the suspect’s crime spree.
Both the Bagleys and Engstroms would like the youths prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
