Well, Whitman is a Large county. A large one and it probably takes the Whitman Co. sheriff a good while to drive all the way out to Lacrosse from say Colfax (the county seat) or Pullman (home of washington state university).
This story reminds me of how the cowboys rope the little doggies at a rodeo and leave them hogtied. O.o
It’s nice to know there are still a few places across the fruited plain that exist where people still watch out for each other. Retro-50s.