The Park County Sheriff’s Office is purchasing four new Chevy Silverado 1500 crew cabs to replace three higher mileage trade-in Chevys and one that was wrecked in a July crash. 

The bid from Denny Menholt of $138,660 after trade-ins came in under the sheriff’s office’s budgeted amount of $150,000; Fremont Motors Powell had submitted a bid of four new F-150 crew cabs at $151,516 after trade-in.

At a Sept. 16 Park County Commission meeting, Park County Sheriff Darrell Steward said going with the low bid allowed for a double dose of savings, as transitioning to a newer version of the same vehicle type makes it more likely that all the existing equipment can be transferred to the new Silverados.

The county also received roughly $16,000 from its insurer for the patrol truck that suffered more than $20,000 worth of damage in a July 17 crash.

Attempted U-turn

Steward said a deputy was east of the Shoshone River Canyon on U.S. Highway 14/16/20W and heading east when he spotted a driver speeding to the west.

The deputy turned off the highway and tried making a U-turn to pursue the speeder, Steward said. However, the deputy didn’t see an eastbound dump truck coming up behind him, the sheriff said, and it hit the patrol vehicle. While the patrol truck was spun around, there were no injuries.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol, which handled the formal investigation, issued no citations.

The sheriff’s patrol vehicle had more than 100,000 miles and was due to be traded in, Steward said, along with two other deputy trucks and a spare vehicle. Instead, Steward said “the carcass” of the vehicle is now in the department’s garage. 

Commission Chair Dossie Overfield suggested Steward see if it could be added to a county auction to at least get something for it. 

“The driver side rear took most of the hit. The drive train should be good,” Steward said, adding, “It has an engine and transmission.”

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s department recently avoided damage in a more recent collision, in which a deputy hit a deer. In that case, the only damage was to the deer, Steward said at an Oct. 7 commissioners meeting.

Former Sheriff and current County Commissioner Scott Steward, who is Darrell’s brother, said people questioned him when he first purchased grill guards for office vehicles years ago, but said they’ve shown to be effective in keeping department vehicles on the road.

Officer-involved crashes

The sheriff’s department isn’t the only local law enforcement agency to have experienced a recent crash. Court records show a Powell Police Department vehicle suffered much less significant damage in an Aug. 18 collision on Gateway Drive. 

According to information provided by the sheriff’s office, the crash occurred when a 15-year-old driver backed out of the parking lot for the Mountain Spirit Habitat for Humanity ReStore and failed to see a police car driving by on Gateway Drive.

Sheriff’s spokesman Monte McClain described the damage as a minor scrape on the rear passenger side door. Court records show the police department expected to spend $4,858.16 on repairs.

The teen was cited for failing to start a parked vehicle without reasonable safety. She is set to appear in Park County Circuit Court in late November.