Removal Of Arrested Mayor From Jail Roster Was Error, Sheriff's Office Says

A Park County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy removed the Cody town mayor from a list of jail inmates, shielding her arrest from the public, for reasons unknown last weekend.

The protocol breach was a mistake and has been addressed, the sheriff’s office says.

Cody Mayor Lee Ann Reiter, 65, was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. She was released from jail two days later, at 5:20 a.m. Monday, Park County Sheriff’s spokesman Monte McClain told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.

Reiter appeared briefly on the Park County Detention Center’s list of inmates, but a detention officer “uncheck(ed) a box” in the system, causing her to be removed from the public-facing list, said McClain.

The list is publicly available online and includes mugshots and possible criminal charges of people jailed in Park County.

McClain said he does not know why the jail officer unchecked the box, though he speculated it could be a “misunderstanding on when a box is supposed to be unchecked.”

The spokesman said he doesn’t know how the deputy arrived at that misunderstanding, adding, “he’s one of our newer detention officers.”

That box should be unchecked for juveniles and mental-illness holds, he added, though not for adult DUI cases.

McClain said the jail lieutenant handled the issue, and dispatched an email clarifying the process “to make sure there wasn’t any confusion going forward.”

“It was addressed yesterday,” added McClain.

Contacted via phone Tuesday, Reiter hung up before commenting.

Arrest

Reiter’s arrest followed a series of concerning driving tactics, according to an evidentiary affidavit by Park County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Aldrete.

Cody Police Department Officer Tanner Wichern originally stopped Reiter before 2 a.m. Saturday but called Aldrete to the case once he became concerned about a conflict of interest, says the document.

Wichern spotted a blue GMC truck traveling west on Rumsey Avenue that morning. It was oscillating in its lane, driving “abnormally” closely to the parked vehicles on the road, the document says.

The truck turned onto 9th Street without signaling, then turned right into the leftmost of two westbound lanes on Sheridan Avenue. The vehicle signaled left, then switched to signal right during that turn, the document says.

Wichern turned on his lights and stopped the vehicle on Sheridan Avenue.

Reiter told Wichern during the stop that she was heading from the downtown area, and had consumed alcohol, the affidavit alleges.

Wichern, the department’s drug recognition expert, later reported to Aldrete that Reiter had slowed movements, poor manual dexterity and a “1,000 yard stare,” Aldrete wrote.

Wichern smelled an odor similar to mosquito spray emanating from the truck, the document adds.

Aldrete took over the investigation and asked Reiter to perform field sobriety tests, which she attempted, but with poor results, says the affidavit.

Aldrete told Reiter she was being arrested. He handcuffed her wrists behind her back and took her to the jail at about 2:37 a.m.

She agreed to give a breath test. At about 3:18 a.m., she gave two alcohol-positive breath samples, with the lower of the two indicating a blood-alcohol reading of 0.190, the affidavit says.

Authorities took her to the hospital “to secure an additional test at her own expense,” then she was taken back to the jail at about 4 a.m.

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