July 2024 - 9

NEWS
Green River man sentenced for
shooting deer in neighborhood
GREEN RIVER - A years-long case of
deer being shot and left to die in a Green River
neighborhood was recently resolved.
In October 2023, Timothy Crooks of Green
River was charged with five counts of wanton
destruction of a big game animal and four
counts of using a suppressor to take a big
game animal. On Feb. 27, Crooks pleaded
guilty to five counts of wanton destruction
of a big game animal. The charges of using a
suppressor were dismissed as part of the plea
agreement. On April 9, Crooks was sentenced
in the Sweetwater County Circuit Court to 15
days in jail for each count, served concurrently,
with credit for three days served. In addition
to jail time, Crooks' hunting privileges were
revoked for 10 years. He also forfeited a .22
Marlin rifle with a scope and a homemade
suppressor.
Over five years, at least five deer were shot
and killed in the area of Arkansas Drive in
Green River. During their investigation,
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
game wardens and the Green River Police
Department responded to numerous calls
about dead or injured deer and recovered
bullets from three of the deer.
In August 2018, game wardens were called
to a home on Arkansas Drive to investigate
a doe deer that appeared to have been shot.
Witnesses heard what sounded like shots from
a small caliber rifle in the early morning hours
and later found the deer dying near a home.
Nearly three years later, wardens were called
to Arkansas Drive to investigate a deer that
was suspected to have been shot, and a bullet
was recovered from a buck deer that appeared
to have come from a small caliber rifle. Game
wardens learned from an animal control officer
another buck deer had been removed by city
workers from the neighborhood that morning
and taken to the landfill. A game warden went
to the landfill and necropsied that buck deer
and determined it had been shot as well,
though the bullet had passed through the
animal and was not recovered.
In September 2022, students at Harrison
Elementary School found an injured buck deer
The .22 Marlin rifle seized during a search of the residence of Timothy Crooks of Green River. (WGFD photo)
A homemade suppressor was also found during the search of Crooks' home in Green River. (WGFD photo)
near their playground. During a necropsy, a
bullet was found lodged beneath the animal's
skin. In August 2023, wardens were again
called to the neighborhood on Arkansas Drive
for a report of a doe mule deer believed to have
been shot, and wardens recovered a bullet
from that deer.
Wyoming game wardens and the Green
River Police Department executed two
search warrants on Crooks' residence on
August 17, 2023. Officers seized several
firearms, ammunition and a homemade
suppressor. Three bullets were sent to the
Division of Criminal Investigation crime
lab in Cheyenne, along with firearms seized
under the search warrants. Ballistics testing
confirmed that bullets recovered from the
buck deer in 2022 and the doe deer in 2023
had been fired from the same .22 caliber
Marlin rifle seized during the search in
August.
" I would like to thank the numerous
reporting parties who promptly reported the
injured, dying and dead mule deer. Accurate
and timely reports often make the difference
in whether or not a case can be solved, " said
Game Warden Justin Dodd of Rock Springs.
" Without these reports and the assistance
of the Green River animal control officers
and the Green River Police Department,
this investigation might still be ongoing.
I would also like to thank the Sweetwater
County Attorney's office for their assistance
in resolving this case. "
- Regina Dickson, WGFD
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July 2024

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