On paper, the punishments handed to a pair of Cody restauranteurs for a summer altercation with customers and police involved some court fees and unsupervised probation. But the consequences for Randel and Courtney Hooper went beyond that, one of their attorneys said, with the blowback from the couple’s arrests leading to the closure of their businesses and a move out-of-state.

The Hoopers were operating Cassie’s Steakhouse last June when they and a couple customers got into a heated argument that reportedly devolved into death threats being exchanged.

Courtney Hooper reported that the customers threatened to kill her over a long wait time, which prompted the Hoopers to follow the group down the street. When Cody police arrived, Randel Hooper told an officer that, “you better f—ing arrest them [the customers] or I’ll be back and I’ll f—ing kill them.”

The guests agreed that they wouldn’t return to Cassie’s, and Cody police thought that was the end of it.

However, less than an hour later, police say the Hoopers arrived at the tourists’ motel, where Randel Hooper allegedly told the Floridians that “you better f—ing leave Cody, or else”; Courtney Hooper allegedly threatened to shoot the visitors if they kept video recording her.

The Hoopers had left before police arrived, but after taking statements from the tourists and reviewing their video footage, the officers decided to arrest the Hoopers.

“A normal, reasonable upset person, you know, they wouldn’t go back to the hotel and try to confront them,” Officer Daniel Villalobos testified at a court hearing last fall.

A contingent of six law enforcement officers from three agencies wound up going to Cassie’s to make the arrests; a scuffle ensued with Randel Hooper, which resulted in Villalobos suffering some cuts and scrapes.

Police initially recommended multiple felonies in connection with the incident, but by the time the Hoopers were sentenced earlier this year, those counts had been dropped or reduced by prosecutors.

A pair of sentencings

At a brief Feb. 24 hearing in Park County Circuit Court, Courtney Hooper pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of breach of peace, admitting she’d used obscene language in a public place. However, prosecutors agreed to defer a finding of guilt; the charge will be dismissed if the 43-year-old obeys the law over the next six months.

Meanwhile, Randel Hooper pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of breach of peace and interference with a peace officer. He, too, is serving six months of unsupervised probation.

Both Hoopers also received credit for the parts of three days that they served in jail before their initial court appearance.

At Randel Hooper’s sentencing on Jan. 9, District Court Judge Bill Simpson said he believed the defendant could have handled the situation in so many other ways.

“And I just want to ask, sir, in the future, please use your judgment — you’ve been in tough situations before, much more difficult than this — and just walk away,” Simpson said, making reference to Randel Hooper’s prior service in the U.S. Marine Corps. “Don’t put yourself in this situation again.”

Later, Simpson asked how they could avoid anything similar in the future.

“Well, in my 57 years of life, this has not happened,” Randel Hooper said, “and I don’t foresee it happening again.”

Disputed charges and arrests

Cody police initially arrested the Hoopers on charges that included “terroristic threats” — a felony offense that applies when a person “threatens to commit any violent felony with the intent to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation, or otherwise to cause serious public inconvenience ...”

However, the Park County Attorney’s Office never formally filed that charge. Villalobos testified at a September preliminary hearing that, after reading the full statute and visiting with a prosecutor, other charges “seem to be more fitting.”

“Wouldn’t you agree that before you arrest somebody for a serious felony, that you should probably suss out the definition of the statute and whether or not the crime that you have investigated meets that definition?” Randel Hooper’s attorney, Sarah Miles, pressed.

Villalobos said a threat to “get out” could qualify as the evacuation of a building, and that he was going off the recommendation of the primary officer.

Miles also suggested her client should have been cited rather than arrested, but between Randel Hooper’s statements and actions, Villalobos said he believed there was a risk of immediate violence.

“So yes, he did need to go to jail,” the officer testified.

A scuffle with police

September’s preliminary hearing addressed the lone felony charge of interference with a peace officer, which alleged Randel Hooper had knowingly caused bodily injury to Villalobos.

A bystander’s video of the incident showed that as police moved in to arrest Randel Hooper, he repeatedly asked why he was being arrested and asked the officers not to hurt him. When Officer Tom Wilshusen attempted to detain Hooper, the two men got into “a stand-up grappling match,” Villalobos testified.

Villalobos then took out Hooper’s legs, which brought the three men to the ground. Hooper “briefly” struggled and struck Villalobos in the head with his foot, the officer testified.

“The way the report reads, it’s like, ‘oh, [he] kicked me,’” Villalobos said, but “it was more like a shove down.”

He said he didn’t think Randel Hooper was trying to attack any of the officers: “I just think he didn’t want to go to jail and was trying to resist.”

The entire altercation lasted about seven seconds.

Villalobos received cuts on top of his head that he later super glued shut and a lasting mark on his elbow from hitting the gravel, he said. The officer was checked out at Cody Regional Health, though he indicated that was a precaution dictated by department policy.

Miles sought to have the felony interference charge thrown out last fall. She argued in part that Randel Hooper hadn’t caused the officer’s injuries, because he couldn’t control how Villalobos landed. However, Circuit Court Magistrate Brianne Phillips found there was enough evidence for the case to move to district court. Phillips specifically noted the testimony about Hooper’s foot striking the officer.

Reaching a deal

Months later, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele agreed to reduce the charge to misdemeanor interference as part of a plea deal. Eichele told the district court in January that he’d done so at Villalobos’ suggestion, and Miles expressed gratitude for the prosecutor’s offer.

“Mr. Hooper and his wife suffered immensely due to the charges in this particular case,” Miles said at the hearing. “They did lose all of their businesses. They struggled financially because of that, and have now had to relocate out of the state of Wyoming just for financial reasons …”

Hours after Randel Hooper’s case advanced to district court in September, Courtney Hooper announced they would no longer be operating Cassie’s. Their property was foreclosed on in November and is currently up for sale.

The Hoopers continued operating their downtown restaurant, the Cutthroat Restaurant and Saloon, but after a name change to The 1904 Restaurant, it later shut down, too. The Sheridan Avenue location is set to become a new Mexican restaurant.

Miles attributed the couple’s financial struggles to a “trial by the public” before their criminal cases were resolved. The Hoopers’ court proceedings drew little attention, but their arrests were big news, being featured in publications as far off as the U.K. tabloid the Daily Mail.

“People are quick to judge,” Simpson said at January’s hearing, “but they’re very slow sometimes to really evaluate and question what happened and to analyze, fully and completely, the circumstances that give rise to an incident.”

The judge added that he knew Randel Hooper had done a lot of good things in his life.

“This does not define you, and it never has, and it never will,” Simpson told the defendant. “So I wish you and your wife the best.”

Earlier in the hearing, Miles said she hoped everyone could move forward.