January 17, 2024 |
Photo – Victoria Tidball – Bigfoot99 file photo
More information has been released about the December 16th shooting in Saratoga.
Carbon County prosecutor Sarah Chavez Harkins filed eight charges, including one count of attempted first degree murder, against 28-year-old Victoria Rose Tidball. All the charges stem from a December 16th shooting on the east side of Saratoga.
According to newly released court documents, in the early morning hours of December 16th, the Saratoga Police Department received a report of an intoxicated female shooting at vehicles at 306 Veterans Street. While enroute, Saratoga Police Officer Daniel Starr was notified that the shooter had fled the scene in a gold-colored Ford Ranger.
Once at the address, Officer Starr met Christopher Heath and Bradley McBride. According to the affidavit of Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris, Heath said he approached the female shooter and asked her what she was doing. Heath allegedly said Tidball told him that she was “shooting up a drug house with [a] crack dealer in it.”
The two men were able to identify the female shooter as Victoria Tidball. Officer Starr said Heath stated that he saw Tidball reload her weapon, a 9mm Glock handgun, at least once during the shooting. Heath allegedly told Officer Starr that after the shooting, Tidball calmly got into her truck and drove away.
Officer Starr said he saw a silver Jeep Gladiator at the scene with numerous bullet holes. The two driver’s side tires were flat, and the windshield had bullet holes in it.
Chief Morris’s written affidavit states that Officer Starr interviewed McBride at the scene. McBride allegedly told the officer that he had gotten into an argument with his girlfriend, Tidball. Afterwards, Tidball allegedly began to shoot at McBride’s home and vehicle. McBride allegedly told Officer Starr that Tidball is bi-polar and had been drinking that night.
McBride informed Officer Starr that Tidball had allegedly stolen his phone earlier in the evening. Officer Starr attempted to use McBride’s cell phone to locate the suspect, but found that the phone had been deactivated soon after the incident.
At this point during the incident, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office became involved in the investigation. Saratoga Police Chief Morris’s written affidavit states that Deputy Sergeant Patrick Patterson found 29 shell casings and two magazines at the scene of the shooting. Officers processed the scene and found multiple bullet holes in McBride’s house, including one round that had gone through the front door. Officers also recovered several bullets from inside of McBride’s house and the surrounding area.
According to Chief Morris’s statement, McBride said he and Tidball were drinking together since the late afternoon of December 15th. The two returned to McBride’s home at 306 Veterans Street where they began to argue. McBride said he asked Tidball to leave his house and the suspect allegedly slapped him twice in the face. That is when McBride said Tidball stole his cell phone.
The argument allegedly continued until Tidball left in her truck. McBride allegedly told Chief Morris that Tidball drove around to the front of his house and opened fire with a handgun. When the shooting started, McBride said he opened the front door and witnessed Tidball firing at his Jeep.
McBride said he took cover behind a water heater while Tidball walked around his house, shooting the entire time. McBride said Tidball did not speak during the incident.
Chief Morris also said that Ben Stockwell was in McBride’s house when the shooting started. McBride told Officer Starr that he used Stockwell’s phone to call police.
In his written affidavit, Chief Morris said McBride said Tidball had been violent in the past, allegedly once stealing McBride’s Jeep and causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
Chief Morris’s written statement goes on to say that he interviewed Stockwell 11 days after the incident. Chief Morris said Stockwell corroborated McBride’s story. Stockwell allegedly said Tidball is usually very combative and that her calm behavior during the shooting was unusual.
Roughly 12 hours after the shooting, on the afternoon of December 16th, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a theft at the Whistle Pig Saloon, located south of Saratoga.
According to Chief Morris’s written affidavit, Deputy Chris Fisher responded to the call and spoke to bartender Jamie Waugh. Deputy Fisher said Waugh told him that 34-year-old Cody Ellenson was seen drinking with Tidball in the bar on the evening of December 15. Waugh allegedly told Deputy Fisher that the two left together around midnight.
When Waugh came in to work the next day, she told Deputy Fisher that two bags of cash, totaling nearly $2,000, were missing. Whistle Pig Saloon owner Chuck Davidson reviewed the security camera footage and saw Ellenson enter the closed bar around 2:30 am. Ellenson, who allegedly worked at the bar, had the code to deactivate the alarm. Deputy Fisher said security footage shows Ellenson walking around inside of the bar after hours.
Deputy Fisher said the cameras also showed a gold-colored Ford Ranger pull up to the Whistle Pig Saloon from Ellenson’s trailer home, which is located directly behind the bar. Ellenson can allegedly be seen exiting the vehicle and entering the building.
Deputy Fisher said he attempted to make contact with Ellenson at his home, but received no answer. The deputy said he was able to see a box of 9mm handgun rounds inside of the trailer through a window.
Officers were allegedly able to contact Tidball via her cell phone. Chief Morris said that Tidball informed officers that she and Ellenson were no longer traveling together and that she, Tidball, would like to turn herself in. Tidball was taken into custody in Lexington, Nebraska 16 days after the incident, on December 29th. Tidball’s 9mm Glock handgun was found in her vehicle.
According to Chief Morris’s official statement, Tidball allegedly told investigators that she had an “epic freak out,” after McBride said he was going to sell his dog.
Tidball allegedly said after the argument, she retrieved her pistol from her vehicle and began shooting at McBride’s Jeep. Tidball also allegedly told officers that she has little recollection of the shooting, only saying that she remembered her gun kept jamming.
Tidball allegedly told investigators that she wasn’t trying to kill McBride.
After the shooting, the suspect allegedly said she called Ellenson in a panic and met up with him at his home behind the Whistle Pig Saloon. Tidball said she and Ellenson grabbed their respective guns and went to the closed bar. Tidball allegedly said she didn’t know Ellenson was going to rob the bar until he returned to her vehicle after being inside of the building.
Tidball allegedly told investigators that Ellenson threw her and McBride’s phones into the North Platte River.
Tidball was extradited back to Carbon County last week. The suspect is accused of attempted first degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and battery, one count of felony property destruction, a count of accessory after the fact, related to the Whistle Pig theft, domestic assault, the theft of McBride’s cell phone, and reckless endangering.
Tidball is currently being held in the Carbon County Jail on $100,000 cash bond. She is expected back in Circuit Court this Friday.
