The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office is hoping to locate additional witnesses to a knife assault in Farson that took place on May 14.
According to the Sweetwater County Detention Center, Jose Alfredo Mendoza, 36, was arrested on the afternoon of the 14th near the Farson Feed Store on U.S. Highway 191 about 35 miles north of Rock Springs. It was reported that Mendoza attacked Joshua Bennett, a Rock Springs resident, with a knife. In addition, he was wanted for parole violation on an original charge of Manslaughter.
According to court records, Mendoza was sentenced in District Court in Casper in December of 2004 to a prison term of seven to twelve years for the 2003 death of his six-month-old son, J.J. Mendoza, Jr., who died of a brain injury. He was released from the Wyoming State Penitentiary on parole on June 22, 2015.
Mendoza is charged with Aggravated Assault, which carries a maximum possible penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both. In addition, the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office has filed a Notice of Intent to Seek Sentence Enhancement on Mendoza as a habitual criminal already convicted on two previous felonies, the 2004 Natrona County Manslaughter case and a 1998 case in Fillmore County, Utah.
As defined in Wyoming state statute, “a habitual criminal convicted of two (2) previous felony convictions shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten (10) years nor more than fifty (50) years.”
Mendoza remains in custody at the Sweetwater County Detention Center in Rock Springs in lieu of a $150,000 cash or surety bond.
The assault took place in Bennett’s van, a silver 2000 Chrysler Voyager. Anyone with information on the incident, particularly those who may have witnessed it, are encouraged to contact Detective Steve Powell at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, who can be reached through the county’s Combined Dispatch Center at (307) 875-1400.