Carson City man arrested after son found a loaded AK-47 in closet and fired into neighbor's apartment

A 31-year-old Carson City man was arrested in the area of Alouette Thursday evening for felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and two counts of child endangerment or neglect.

According to the report, deputies were dispatched to a residence on a report of suspicious circumstances. The reporting party called police stating they believed a bullet had been shot through their room at their apartment.

Upon arrival, the reporting party invited deputies into their home to show them the possible bullet marks. The reporting party stated they saw damage to their room at approximately 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

They told deputies they originally thought the damage came from the roof being replaced. However, on Thursday, the reporting party showed a client a photo of the damage and the client advised the reporting party to call the police to investigate as it appeared to be from a projectile.

Deputies noticed sheetrock dust and small wooden chunks on the floor.

The reporting party showed deputies their closet, closet door frame, headboard, and exterior wall, all of which had signs of a discharged bullet striking the surfaces. Deputies determined the bullet had entered from the west of the bedroom, and the hole in the western wall of the closet had an exit blowout suggesting the round came into the closet from the outside.

Deputies determined that the master bedroom closet shares a wall with the master bedroom closet in the adjacent apartment, leading deputies to believe the round was fired from the area of the adjacent unit in the master bedroom.

Deputies made contact with the resident of the adjacent apartment named Victor Cazarez Jr. Deputies asked if he heard any loud noises or gunshots the day before. Cazarez denied any knowledge of noise or gunshots. He stated he owns two firearms, an AK-47 and a shotgun.

Deputies asked if they could search the residence, to which he consented.

Upon searching the residence, deputies located the master bedroom and master closet that shares a wall with the reporting party’s closet. Inside, they located a black gun case and a black AK-47. The gun and gun case were located in the top right shelf of the closet.

Deputies located a bullet hole that matched the flight path with the holes in the adjacent apartment. There were black powder burn marks on the entry hole in the closet.

Deputies determined the bullet came from the rifle located inside the closet. The rifle was discharged at close range to the wall from the area of the top left shelf based on the powder burns and close distance of the hole to the shelf. On the nightstand of the master bedroom, deputies also located a marijuana pipe and a small amount of marijuana.

Deputies spoke again with Cazarez, who said the night before he’d been watching his children in the home. He was downstairs and heard a loud pop come from upstairs. He said he went upstairs to see what the noise was, and his son had popped a ball and that was where the sound came from.

He checked his AK-47, and found the rifle was loaded and pointed towards the neighbor’s house. He said he downloaded the gun, put a cable lock through he action, and pointed it away from the wall. He said he didn’t notice any smell of burnt gun powder or a bullet casing in the closet, and he didn’t notice a hole int he wall.

After speaking with him further, deputies said Cazarez changed his story again and stated he witnessed his son discharge the rifle into the wall from his closet. He said he was in the master bedroom when he noticed his son was in the his closet, looking through his closet for his shoes and shirt.

Cazarez told his son to get out of the closet, at which point the gun “went off.” He said he went into the closet, unloaded the rifle, put the cable lock through the action and turned the rifle away from the wall. He said he went outside to see if anyone was “freaking out,” and he didn’t see or hear anything from any of the neighbors.

Deputies asked him if the discharge was an accident why didn’t he call the police to report the incident. He said he was scared he’d lose the ability to see his children, and he only gets to see them every other weekend due to a custody agreement. He said he knew it was a mistake to have the rifle in the open and it should have been locked away and unloaded.

After running a criminal history, dispatch advised Cazarez was previously convicted of domestic battery in 2011 and therefore he was not allowed to be in possession of any firearms. He was taken into custody and transported to the Carson City Jail without incident.

Deputies made contact with the ex-wife, who said she knew why they were there because she’d just received a call from Cazarez from jail. She said she had spoken to the children, who told her about the incident and that their father had made them promise not to tell her about the gun going off. Deputies spoke with the son who said he accidentally pulled the trigger of the rifle in his dad’s closet.

Bail: $22,500

Warrants:

— A 33-year-old Carson City woman was arrested in the area of 5th and Saliman on Thursday afternoon on a Carson City Justice warrant for violation of a suspended sentence.

Bail: $3,000 cash only

All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.