Laramie Residents Charged for Violating Quarantine Orders
UPDATE: Only Bukmiller, Siderfin, and Dewaard were registered at the University of Wyoming. Gaydos was not a student there.
Four Laramie residents are facing criminal prosecution after they allegedly ignored orders to quarantine after being suspected of having COVID-19.
Albany County prosecutors charged four women with misdemeanors Wednesday for violating public health orders, as first reported by the Laramie Boomerang.
The residents, Darbi Buckmiller, Hannah Siderfin, Rachel Gaydos, and Alexanna Dewaard, attended the University of Wyoming.
Buckmiller, Dewaard, and Gaydos, who were roommates, were issued quarantine orders on May 22 by State Public Health Officer Alexia Harrist after they were suspected of contracting COVID-19.
Siderfin, a friend of the three, was ordered to quarantine Monday, May 25.
However, all four women have allegedly left their homes multiple times, as well as posting a Snapchat story of them at Lake Hattie.
On Wednesday, May 27, Harrist authorized criminal prosecution.
According to the Wyoming Statute, state health officers are given the power to “enforce isolation and quarantine … of the people within this state as the state health officer may find necessary for the protection of the public health.”
Further, the Statute states that a person who “shall fail or refuse to obey any lawful order issued by any state, county or municipal health officer” can be imprisoned for up to a year and fined up to $1,000.
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