Jail sentence for Gillette man charged with meth possession

Jason Arnhold of Gillette has been sentenced to jail for possession of methamphetamine after allegedly leading a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper on a late-night chase along both the interstate and a graveled county road, at one point driving directly towards the trooper’s vehicle.

On March 20 at around 11:46 p.m., a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper left the interstate at the Beaver Creek Road off ramp. His headlights illuminated a pickup parked under the overpass with its lights off.

The trooper reports noticing the headlights and tail lights become illuminated and the truck begin to drive forward. Finding this suspicious, he conducted a traffic stop.

According to the court affidavit, the driver kept his right hand out of the trooper’s view and refused to place it on the steering wheel when asked. He allegedly slammed the gear shift into gear, accelerated quickly, spraying loose gravel, and began to drive away.

The trooper pursued the pickup with his emergency lights and siren activated. Arnhold allegedly drove to the interstate and turned west in the eastbound lane, then crossing over to the westbound lane.

Arnhold allegedly continued to flee at speeds up to 90 mph before leaving the interstate at the Inyan Kara Road exit and turning onto a gravel county road. Several miles later, Arnhold allegedly stopped his vehicle and turned to drive towards the trooper.

After narrowly missing the trooper’s vehicle, Arnhold allegedly drove back to Inyan Kara Road at speeds up to 55 mph. The trooper claims he drove “in a manner in which he held no regard to the safety of himself or others, nearly losing control of his vehicle several times”.

Arnhold allegedly stopped just south of U.S. 14 and put his hands out of the driver’s side window. He was placed in handcuffs and taken to the Crook County Detention Center.

An inventory of the vehicle performed by the second trooper allegedly located a small baggy containing suspected methamphetamine weighing 3.9g. A background check allegedly revealed Arnhold’s driver’s license was suspended and prior convictions for driving while under the influence and while suspended.

Arnhold pled guilty to one felony charge of possession of meth in an amount greater than 3g. He was sentenced to between 24 and 48 months in a state penal institution.