Saratoga Man's Tailgate Falls Off During Chase, Charged With Littering And Meth

A Saratoga, Wyoming, man accused of leading deputies on a truck chase last week was cited for littering after his tailgate flew off his truck during the pursuit – and other charges including meth possession.

The man received a seven-foot-long list of citations, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office announced after the chase.

Carbon County Sheriff’s Sgt. Christopher Fischer parked himself outside Aiden Swanson’s house in Saratoga at about 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 10, to arrest Swanson, who had a warrant for his arrest, says an affidavit filed in the case.

Swanson had been involved in a domestic offense days earlier, according to the sheriff’s office.

Earlier that day Fischer had approached the front door of Swanson’s house. There he spotted a white Ford with no registration — and a brown dog. The sergeant tried returning the brown dog to Swanson, he wrote.

When Fischer came back for his afternoon lookout, that same white Ford truck with no registration drove past him, the affidavit says.

So Fischer turned and followed the truck, which ran a stop sign and sped up, the sergeant wrote.

Fischer turned on his emergency lights and siren. The truck accelerated down County Road 500 West, which is riddled with potholes, and zig-zagged from shoulder to shoulder, the document says.

Fischer let dispatch know the driver was eluding and driving too fast for the road conditions. He wrote in the affidavit that the truck turned off Country Road 500 and onto a private driveway belonging to Jack Creek Land and Cattle Company, at 65 mph, then tore through private and federal Bureau of Land Management land.

The driver, believed to be Swanson lost “lots of stuff from the bed of his truck.” A red gas can, the tailgate and other items whipped away from the vehicle, as Swanson pivoted the chase into the sagebrush, says the affidavit. When the driver doubled back, Fischer noticed there was a female in the passenger seat, the sergeant wrote.

The man's tailgate whipped off during the truck chase. He bolted through the private driveway and onto County Road 408 going 50 mph, the document continues.

Then he pivoted back onto County Road 500, turned west, accelerated to 77 mph and fled into the Medicine Bow National Forest, Fischer wrote.

Truck Couldn't Do It

That was when the sergeant noticed the truck wasn’t suited for the terrain.

“While traveling up the hill to the tree line it appeared that Aiden’s truck was only two-wheel drive,” Fischer wrote. “Aiden’s vehicle struggle to get up the hill, and Aiden flipped me off with his middle finger while driving.”

When Swanson finally made it to the top of the hill, he was driving on a road caked with about three inches of snow, and he slowed down, the document says. “But (he) was still driving to(o) fast for conditions.”

Swanson’s truck rolled onto its side in a ditch that was 7.3 miles from County Road 500, the affidavit says

Fischer watched Swanson get out of the truck and run down the road, up a snowy hill, leaving fresh tracks in the snow, the sergeant wrote. 

Also, Swanson’s brown dog followed him.

“Stop!” yelled Fischer.

Fischer turned his attention to the woman in the car. Fischer learned she was the same woman who’d been the alleged victim in a domestic abuse case in which Swanson had been charged Aug. 13.

She confirmed that Swanson was the man who’d fled. She told Fischer that Swanson didn’t have any weapons with him though he’d left a gun in the car, the affidavit says.

A Nagging Worry

Fischer noted the time: 3:27 p.m. The sun would set soon, and the temperatures would plunge to well below freezing.

Other agents arrived to help.

They searched the truck, while other personnel prepared to use drones to search for Swanson. In the truck, one officer found a meth pipe, dust (believed to be meth) in a baggie, a rifle and an open container of Coors Lite, the affidavit alleges.

The woman said the beer was hers but denied ownership of the meth, Fischer wrote.

“When was the last time you used?” Fischer asked the woman.

Earlier in the day, she answered, according to the document. She added that she was headed to rehab the next day. The gun was Swanson’s, she added.

The suspected methamphetamine weighed in at five grams with packaging, says the document.

Chased Him Down

Two agents chased Swanson on foot and ultimately caught him, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.

Bakken’s not sure whether the truck was actually two-wheel-drive, or if the thick snow was just too much for it anyway, he said.

Swanson is in jail now, Bakken said.

“It was kind of a ride,” he added. “We’d been looking for him for a few days; keeping an eye on the house and keeping a pretty close eye on that area. Finally saw him in his truck and took off after him – and that’s what started this whole rodeo.” 

The Tally

Swanson faces 12 criminal charges in this case:

• Felony meth possession, punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 in fines

• Meth delivery, up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 in fines

• Having a gun while a felon, up to six months and $750

• Interference with police, up to one year and $1,000

• Violation of a protection order, up to six months and $750

• Driving with a license suspended, up to six months and $750

• Reckless driving, up to six months and $750

• Failure to maintain liability coverage, up to six months and $750

• No valid vehicle registration, up to $200 in fines

• Eluding, up to six months and $750

• Littering, up to six months and $750

• Criminal trespass, up to six months and $750.

The Carbon County Public Defender’s Office declined Monday to comment.

Swanson is set for a Nov. 20 preliminary hearing in Rawlins Circuit Court.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.