Casper Man Arrested After Armed Road-Rage Incident
A man accused of drunkenly swerving his vehicle toward WYDOT employees before getting out and brandishing a rifle in the middle of an intersection was arrested Wednesday on four criminal charges.
Stewart Randolph Tennyson, 54, was booked on DWUI, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and interference charges.
Court documents say Casper police responded to the intersection of Grant Street and K Street at about 12:15 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a man who had driven his Ford Explorer toward a WYDOT truck and then stood in the street with a rifle in his hands.
An officer arrived to find Tennyson standing in the front yard of his home on L Street. Tennyson did not have any weapons in his hands or nearby.
Tennyson was reportedly on a cell phone trying to call police, evidently drunk.
The officer approached Tennyson, who allegedly confirmed he had been involved in a road-rage incident. Tennyson said he was driving on East Yellowstone Highway when a yellow WYDOT vehicle cut him off and began following him, so he pulled into his front yard.
Tennyson reportedly denied brandishing a gun, but did say he had a .45-.70 caliber rifle in his home. Officers found the gun on the kitchen sink with a round in the chamber.
According to the affidavit, Tennyson told officers he had one beer and one shot at a bar earlier in the day and was prescribed multiple medications.
The two WYDOT employees told police they merged in front of Tennyson's vehicle. Tennyson reportedly appeared "very animated and angry" and sped past the WYDOT truck as it turned into a parking lot, so the employees got behind Tennyson's Explorer in an effort to get the vehicle registration information.
At that point, Tennyson allegedly turned into a parking lot and made a u-turn, traveling back towards the WYDOT truck and then swerving toward the truck. His Explorer reportedly came within a foot of hitting the truck.
The WYDOT employees later saw Tennyson pull into a front yard and get out of the Explorer with a rifle in his hands. Tennyson appeared to be yelling in their direction, the employees said.
He then allegedly stood in the middle of the intersection of East L Street and North Grant Street with the rifle in his hands, though he didn't point it at either of the men.
Tennyson was arrested but reportedly refused to submit to breath, urine or blood testing. Officers got a search warrant for a chemical test, but Tennyson allegedly still refused.
Tennyson reportedly said if the officer returned for a blood test, he would stab the officer in the neck with the needle, according to an affidavit.