While on a family trip to Yellowstone National Park last spring, an Iowa man got drunk, nearly got in a head-on collision and then crashed through the front wall of a Cody business.

As a result, Juan C. Cancino-Cisneros must make a return trip to Cody this spring to visit one of the city’s less popular facilities: the Park County Detention Center.

Under a plea deal approved Tuesday, Cancino-Cisneros must serve another nine days of jail time, on top of the 21 he served following his initial arrest last June. The Sioux City resident, who turns 31 this year, will then be released to a year of unsupervised probation, with conditions that include staying away from alcohol.

District Court Judge Bill Simpson said the defendant was getting “quite a deal.”

Cancino-Cisneros had left the Cody Stampede Grounds drunk on the night of June 6. Charging documents say witnesses saw him speeding and weaving down West Yellowstone Avenue. Cancino-Cisneros nearly hit a family in the oncoming lane before going off the street and crashing through the wall of the Cody Firearms Experience. A Cody police officer had to pull him out of the SUV while a broken pipe spewed natural gas into the building.

Simpson said it was “quite amazing” no one was killed.

“This is a serious situation,” he told the defendant. “I mean, you plowed into a building, you severed a natural gas line, which could have ignited by a spark, and could have blown up not only the building, but most of the block.”

The Park County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office initially charged Cancino-Cisneros with a felony count of property destruction totaling $1,000 or more, and his insurer reportedly paid $25,000 to cover the damage to the building. Under the plea agreement, however, the property destruction charge was reduced to a misdemeanor offense, which involves less than $1,000 of damage. 

Cancino-Cisneros pleaded guilty to the reduced charge and a misdemeanor count of driving while under the influence of alcohol for a second time in 10 years; another misdemeanor count of reckless endangering was dismissed.

Simpson at one point appeared surprised that Cancino-Cisneros was only being required to serve nine more days of jail time.

“... but if that's the plea agreement, I trust the wisdom, the advice and the direction of the state and the defense,” the judge said.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichle said it was “a pretty serious event,” but noted Cancino-Cisneros completed treatment following the crash, had insurance that paid for the damage and, outside of an earlier DUI, had no other criminal offenses on his record.

Cancino-Cisneros told the court that he’d “lost control” that night last year — drinking enough beer that he doesn’t really remember what happened — “and I’ve [sought] help since then.”

He said he’d completed classes and an outpatient treatment program and has had “not a drop” of alcohol since the crash.

Simpson encouraged the defendant to remain sober.

“… it does me no good or you no good if all of a sudden you just walk away from this and say, ‘Well, I beat that one. I can continue to drink and do whatever I wish,’” the judge said. “That’s just going to be a nightmare for you and everybody else.”

Cancino-Cisneros must serve his additional jail time by early April.

If he violates his subsequent probation by breaking the law, drinking, being around people who drink, entering a bar or failing to follow other conditions, Simpson warned that he’ll impose all 150 days of the suspended jail “in one fell swoop.”

The judge also required Cancino-Cisneros to provide additional proof that the building owners have been made whole and to write the victims an apology for his “terrible lapse in judgment.”

Other Cody crashes

The June damage at the Cody Firearms Museum marked the second straight year in which a drunk driver smashed into a Cody business. In 2023, Cody resident Heather L. Johnson crashed through the wall of the El Vaquero Mexican restaurant and injured a man inside. It was Johnson's fifth DUI and resulted in a four- to six-year prison sentence.

More recently, another Cody resident, Brendan T. Webb, is alleged to have crashed into the El Vaquero on Feb. 2 and then driven away. The crash was at a relatively lower speed, but resulted in a noticeable dent to the corner of the building. Cody police identified Webb as the driver the following day and charged him with a misdemeanor count of failing to notify the property owner of a crash. He’s free on a $2,500 cash bond while awaiting further proceedings.