CASPER, Wyo. — A Texas man accused of choking and endangering his wife while staying at a Casper motel in February had to be brought back from Texas by a bail agent last week to resume court proceedings.
Orlando Antonio Isaias, 42, posted a $10,000 cash or surety bond after his initial appearance on February 25 but disappeared before his preliminary hearing on March 4.
Last Thursday, 307 Bail Bonds agent Steve Willadsen told Oil City News that he discovered Isaias hiding at a family member’s house in Texas and returned him to the Natrona County Detention Center, which is a 12-hour drive one way. Willadsen claimed that Isaias’ wife had also returned to Texas and was avoiding him at all costs.
Isaias’ original bond agreement stated that he would not leave the state of Wyoming. Isaias told Judge Kevin Taheri on Thursday that he recently spent seven weeks in Mexico with family, attempting to cope with his wife’s departure for a younger man.
Hearing this, Taheri doubled the state’s recommendation for a new $25,000 cash or surety bond to $50,000 cash only.
Isaias is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
On February 25, shortly after midnight, Casper police responded to the Showboat Motel after a front desk employee reported seeing a man throw a woman into the bed of a pickup truck and drive away.
Officers found the woman near North Poplar Street and Amoco Road. She told police that Isaias had just sped away as they approached.
According to the affidavit, she stated that she got into the truck bed at Isaias’ command after he slammed her against a wall and grabbed her by the throat because she was texting a friend.
She claimed that while driving on the interstate, Isaias sped up and slammed on the brakes several times, throwing her around the truck’s bed.
She claimed that after pulling over near the Events Center on Amoco Road, he dragged her out of the truck bed and struck her in the back with a propane tank.
Medical personnel on the scene noticed severe bruising on her hands, arms, and shoulders, as well as bruising and swelling on her forehead.
Isaias was discovered and arrested while walking back to the motel on I-25 after the truck reportedly had a mechanical problem and was abandoned at the Flying J.
According to the affidavit, he told police he was about to leave the motel when the woman jumped into the truck’s bed, screamed for people to call police, and began punching herself before he drove away.
