A Cody man was recently ordered to serve three years of probation, to pay $275 in fees and assessments — and to write an apology to the police officers he assaulted.

Chad Garaas, 45, became increasingly angry during a February traffic stop outside his home, hurling expletives at Cody police and then brandishing a can of bear spray at responding officers.

Garaas ultimately agreed to plead no contest to a felony count of aggravated assault and battery for threatening to use the bear spray (a “drawn deadly weapon”) and an unrelated felony drug charge from years earlier.

At an early November hearing, District Court Judge Bill Simpson accepted the plea deal, which called for four to six years of prison time suspended in favor of supervised probation. However, Simpson also required Garaas apologize to Cody police.

“They deserve your respect. They deserve all of our respect,” the judge said. “They’re a thin blue line between keeping us safe and, you know, trying to have a decent quality of life.”

Simpson said he believed the apology would mean a lot to the officers.

“There’s a lot of negativity sometimes with that job and they need to know that what they do is very valuable,” he said.

Garaas followed through on the judge’s order a couple weeks later. In his note to the officers, Garaas said his actions were “completely out of line” and that he was just stressed out at the time.

“I hope you all stay safe and continue to protect our community,” he wrote.

Garaas also described an ongoing “beef” with the police, including prior incidents in which he felt officers were responsible for escalating tensions; in his letter, Garaas expressed hope that they can squash the dispute and pledged to do his part.

‘Extremely hostile’

When Cody Police Officer Tanner Wichern pulled Garaas over for speeding in February, the officer was aware that Garaas had a reputation for being “extremely hostile to law enforcement.”

Wichern reportedly clocked Garaas going 43 in a 35 mph section of Big Horn Avenue, but he didn’t reach Garaas until the man had already pulled into his driveway.

Garaas soon became agitated, Wichern wrote in an affidavit, repeatedly and loudly swearing at the officer over the 15-minute encounter and throwing his driver’s license and paperwork on the ground.

After Wichern issued a couple traffic citations and prepared to leave, Garaas reportedly let his dog loose and came toward Wichern and another officer with a can of bear spray.

“Hurry the f— up or I’m spraying your b— a—!” he reportedly yelled.

Garaas began a countdown from 10 while Wichern backed away in his patrol vehicle. The officer later wrote in an affidavit that he didn’t want to endanger anyone by directly confronting Garaas.

Although no immediate action was taken against Garaas, the Park County Attorney’s Office brought felony charges in mid-March. Then in June, while Garaas was free on $10,000 bond, prosecutors opted to bring more charges that stemmed from a three-year-old drug investigation.

Charging documents say that, back in February 2021, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation concluded that Garaas had provided six oxycodone pills — apparently taken from his own prescription — to another Cody resident. That man, Philip A. Dobbins, unwittingly sold the pills to an undercover DCI agent for $180.

(The transaction with Garaas paled in comparison to other deals Dobbins was making at the time; Dobbins, 47, was reportedly a major meth distributor in the Cody area and is now serving an 11-year sentence in the federal prison system.)

Moving forward

At his November sentencing in district court, Garaas indicated that he’d distributed the pain pills as part of efforts to get medicine for his sick wife, who died in early 2022.

“... I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I just tried to do what was right for my family,” Garaas said.

As for his actions during February’s traffic stop, “I take responsibility that I should have just, you know, found a lawyer or some other way to deal with it,” Garaas said. “But my wife had just died and I just lost my temper.”

He added that he planned to seek out treatment, even though it’s not required as a part of his sentence.

Simpson expressed sympathy for the loss of Garaas’ wife, but said Garaas had other options. For example, February’s traffic stop “could have all been resolved by just cooperating with the police officers, giving them a statement and going back into your house,” the judge said.

Escalating the incident into a shouting match and physical confrontation is “just inexcusable,” Simpson said.

The plea deal originally called for a $2,500 fine, but Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Laura Newton suggested the condition could be struck, noting Garaas had qualified for a court-appointed attorney.

“Fining people who need public defender assistance, it always concerns me,” Newton said. “I’d prefer they use their money for treatment or helping their children.”

Simpson agreed and scrapped the fine.

Garaas owns a small business and the judge made a point of praising him as a responsible and vital member of the community. Simpson also encouraged him to get help if he becomes depressed or despondent again.

“Seek out counseling, talk to a therapist, but don’t lash out to those people who are here only for one reason, to help you, OK?” Simpson said.

“Yes, sir,” Garaas said.

His sentence was finalized in a late December order.