Bodycam shows Thermopolis officer tase woman inside a wanted suspect's home
By: One of the videos the Thermopolis Police Department released this month shows Mascorro’s April 27, 2019, arrest of a Thermopolis woman, Tara Sonesen.
This case is not mentioned in a public summary of POST's earlier investigation of Mascorro, where he was cleared of wrongdoing. POST Director Chris Walsh cannot discuss whether Sonesen’s arrest is part of the new POST investigation against Mascorro because it’s still active, he told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
Mascorro had been trying to confront a male, Keith Searle, regarding a warrant for Searle’s arrest, says the video’s narrator. The video depicts Sonesen in what Mascorro called an act of police interference.
But Sonesen’s interference charge and a concurrent breach of peace charge from that day both were dismissed. The dismissals came as part of a plea agreement in which Soneson pleaded instead to misdemeanor methamphetamine possession, Hot Springs County Attorney Jill Logan told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday after reviewing the case file.
For the meth conviction, Soneson was released after serving two days in jail.
The other 28 days of her 30-day sentence were suspended.