GILLETTE, Wyo. — The case of one defendant charged in connection with an alleged Halloween stabbing incident entered District Court this week while the preliminary hearings for two others have been continued, Campbell County court records say.
Justus Pearson is charged with felony aggravated assault and battery while Rye Sorenson and Preston Relkin are both charged with conspiring to commit aggravated assault and battery, according to court records.
The preliminary hearings for Pearson and Relkin were both continued in Circuit Court earlier this week; however, Sorenson’s case has been bound over to District Court after he waived his preliminary hearing, per court documents.
The charges against the three defendants stem from an Oct. 31 incident where they are accused of physically assaulting a 42-year-old man who was ultimately transported to the hospital for multiple injuries including a stab wound on his leg, according to affidavits of probable cause filed in each case.
Officers were dispatched to a hotel parking lot at the corner of Skyline Drive and Highway 14-16 around 9:05 p.m. for a report of an ongoing aggravated assault. A witness reported seeing Pearson, Relkin and Sorenson assaulting the 42-year-old at a bar and chasing him across the street to the hotel, the affidavits say.
The witness allegedly tried to break up the fight but backed away upon seeing Pearson armed with a knife, per court documents, which say officers recovered a fixed-blade knife next to the 42-year-old man when they arrived.
According to Deputy Police Chief Brent Wasson, the knife belonged to the 42-year-old, and the report did not specify how Pearson came to possess it.
Officers reportedly observed blood on Relkin’s and Sorenson’s clothing and hands; they also found blood on Pearson’s shirt, the affidavits state.
According to court documents, Sorenson reportedly told officers that the alleged assault was based on them learning the 42-year-old man was a pedophile. They reportedly told the man to stay away from the bar and when they saw him, they decided to confront him.
The affidavits state Sorenson believed the three of them only assaulted the 42-year-old man but denied knowing about the knife.
