CASPER, Wyo. — Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies say a Douglas man threatened neighbors and law enforcement before leading them on a drunken, slow-speed chase on an allegedly stolen tractor.
Arthur Eugene Mitchell, 38, is charged with felony theft and driving under the influence. He is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.
On Sept 28, the out-of-town owner of a property near Pine Mountain was told by a neighbor that a four-wheeler, a tractor and two cage-enclosed water tanks had been stolen. She told deputies that she hadn’t been back to property for about year since her husband had, according to the affidavit She described the 1939 Ford N9 tractor that she’d bought for $1,000 in 2019 and the stickers on her four wheeler.
Sergeant Brett TeBeest spotted those stickers though binoculars while visiting the burglarized property and observing items on the property to the east, including a gray tractor with a yellow blade. An employee of a portable restroom company who pulled up on scene identified the property as Art Mitchell’s, but deputies had a different name for the owner on their database.
“Sergent TeBeest pulled onto the property and a very agitated male no shirt began to approach,” the deputy wrote of his visit to the property. Mitchell demanded they leave.
Less than two hours later the neighbors called the Casper-Narona County Public Safety Communication Center to report that Mitchell had sent them texts. One said, “keep yourself safe and on your side of the street” and another said, “you never know there’s always people out target practicing tryin to sight in theyriffffle. Never know when someone may catch a stray bullet.“
A dispatcher in Converse County called deputies to let them know of a conversation they had with a possibly “manic” Mitchell who described being scared and willing to defend himself after two people with guns came onto his property.
Around 5:38 p.m., deputies got a report of “an intoxicated male operating a small tractor threatening to shoot people.”
Deputy Brad Legler drove to the area, saw tire and scrape marks all over the road and then spotted Mitchell driving the tractor without a shirt on. As Legler followed, Mitchell drove off both sides of the road and through small ditches, ignoring the emergency lights.
“Sgt. Legler followed the male at a very low speed for approximately 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile,” the report said.
The tractor abruptly stopped after hitting a deep ditch and sinking the plow, after which Miller reportedly staggered off the trailer and laid on the ground as instructed. He had a box of .233 bullets in his front pocket, according to the report.
The three-digit, round-figure serial number on the tractor matched what the out-of-town owner recalled. She said she had the only key, and deputies said the trailer had likely been hot-wired. Investigators applied for a warrant to go through the rest of the items on the property he was residing at.
Mitchell has posted a $7,500 cash or surety bond. Court documents give a mailing address in Douglas.
