Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Four Washakie County law enforcement officers were honored by Sheriff Austin Brookwell with the Life Saving Medal, presented at Tuesday's Washakie County Commissioner meeting. Pictured are (l-r): Washakie County Sheriff's Capt. Chris Hazen, Sheriff Brookwell, medal recipients Deputy Chad Carlton, Worland Police Officer Renee Herrera, Deputy Travis Thatcher and Deputy Myron Chatwin; Commisssioners Aaron Anderson, Terry Wolf and Morgan Martinez.
Four local law enforcement officers were honored at Tuesday's Washakie County Commissioners meeting for measures that saved a life of a Washakie County inmate.
Detention Deputy Myron Chatwin, one year of law enforcement service; patrol deputies Travis Thatcher, 8 years experience; Chad Carlton, 12.5 years; and Worland Police Officer Reene Herrera, nearly one year; earned the Life Saving Medal from Washakie County Sheriff Austin Brookwell for an incident on June 7.
Brookwell said an inmate noticed a fellow inmate needed medical attention and hit the emergency button. Chatwin responded and then called for backup with Carlton, Thatcher and Herrera responding.
They were about to start CPR when one noticed that the inmate, Michael Skretteberg was breathing and did not need CPR at that time, but also noticed signs of a possible overdose. Herrera then administered naloxone (commonly known as Narcan which is the preparation/delivery system of the opioid-overdose antidote).
Skretteberg was transported to Washakie Medical Center by ambulance. At the hospital he voluntarily handed over 40 pills of fentanyl and 4 grams of methamphetamine. Skretteberg reportedly said he took three pills.
Brookwell said Skretteberg was fully recovered within three to four hours and was returned to the detention center.
Carlton and Thatcher investigated how the drugs got into the detention center and discovered that an inmate that had been furloughed for medical procedures outside the detention center had smuggled them inside, inside of his body.
The drugs were then delivered to Skretteberg. Charges have been filed against the inmate who smuggled the drugs into the detention center.
According to an article in the Northern Wyoming News on June 27, Alfred Daniel Martinez appeared in Washakie County District Court on June 19 for an initial hearing in a probation revocation and additional charges stemming from the June 7.
According to Deputy Attorney Amy Smith in the June 27 article, an investigation uncovered that Skretteberg received three fentanyl pills in an exchange with Martinez, who was discovered to have swallowed a latex balloon containing four grams of methamphetamine and 43 fentanyl pills before entering the law enforcement center. He then allegedly allowed the balloon to pass through his body and retrieved the contents to sell and consume.
For this incident, Martinez is charged with four felonies: two counts of bringing an illicit substance into jail, and two counts of possession with intent to distribute; a set each for meth and fentanyl. The maximum penalties for the illicit substance in jail charges are a three-year prison sentence and/or a $3,000 fine each, and those for the possession with intent to delivery charges are 20 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine. In total, he faces a maximum penalty of up to 46 years in prison and/or a $56,000 fine. These penalties are only for the charges he obtained on June 7. Martinez remains at the Washakie Detention Center, with bond set at $10,000.
