Carson City sheriff’s SET bust pair after discovery of heroin, meth and pills

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Team arrested two people Wednesday on drug charges after finding packaged heroin and other drugs during a surveillance operation, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.

Brittany Stahl, 29, was arrested at 3:41 p.m. for suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, possession of heroin, trafficking a controlled substance, 4 to 14 grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Christopher Robert Bechtold, 31, was taken into custody at 6:04 p.m. in the 800 block of South Carson Street. He was arrested for suspicion of conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substance Act, possession of a controlled substance, possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia and gross misdemeanor destruction of evidence.

According to the arrest report, deputies with the Special Enforcement Team and TRINET were conducting surveillance on a motel in the 800 block of South Carson Street. A vehicle was searched with approximately $340 in cash and 6 grams of heroin recovered along with indications of drug sales.

Surveillance of the area continued and a traffic stop was made near the intersection of Third and Stewart streets on a Nissan X-Terra driven by Stahl that did not have a functioning brake light.

The woman was asked to exit the vehicle and an officer spoke with the woman and began to an issue a citation while a drug detection canine, Ivo, conducted an exterior free air sniff around the vehicle. The dog alerted positive. Officers began a search, with Stahl admitting there would likely be heroin paraphernalia in the vehicle, the arrest report states.

There was a makeup bag on the front seat that contained a digital scale with heroin residue and a plastic container with a heavy film of heroin inside. A black purse was located that contained $1,115 in cash. Also located was another scale, along with three baggies of black-tar heroin. The baggies weighed 3.1 grams, .05 grams and .05 grams for a total weight of 4.1 grams. There were also 5 Hydrocodone tablets located without a prescription. The drugs were packaged in four separate baggies, along with the scale and more than $1,000 in cash.

SET had received information that Stahl was selling the heroin in Carson City. A detective read the woman her Miranda warning in which she agreed to speak. She said she was selling heroin and that she was conducting approximately 5 to 8 transactions per day.

She stated she would bring in between $20 to $40 per transaction. She further stated her boyfriend, Bechtold, with lives with her, also sells heroin and sells approximately the same amount. She stated she and Bechtold frequently travel to Reno to purchase the heroin which they sell in Carson City, the arrest report states. She gave officers consent to search her phone which revealed text messages arranging drug sales, the arrest report states. She stated she shares the phone with Bechtold and said she and him reside together at a residence in the 800 block of South Carson Street, the arrest report states.

Deputies applied for and were granted a search warrant for the residence. TRINET members did the search, in which Bechtold was inside. A detective announced that he was there and attempted to open the door with a key. The door was chained from the inside and a force entry was made into the residence. Bechtold was found hiding in the bathroom of the residence and refused to come out despite being given multiple commands to open the door. After some time, he exited the bathroom and was detained.

A detective read the man his Miranda warning and Bechtold agreed to speak. He told the detectives he frequently travels to Reno to purchase heroin. He stated he himself and Stahl purchase large amounts of heroin from a subject in Reno and that he also buys heroin in Carson City, the arrest report states.

According to the arrest report, he did not openly admit he was selling drugs but did not deny it. When asked about selling drugs, he would stop talking and stare down toward the floor, the report states.

The following items were found on the bathroom floor where he was located: A black open case with numerous syringes, a gray metal spoon with brown residue, a clear plastic jar with brown cotton swabs presumed to be heroin. There was a clear plastic bag in front of the toilet with brown water residue on it that later tested positive for heroin. Deputies used a Nartec drug test to test the water in the toilet which tested presumed positive for heroin.

It became apparent that while Bechtold was in the bathroom and not cooperating or exiting, he was flushing the drugs down the toilet, the arrest report states.

On the counter in the bathroom officers located a small glass jar with brown residue, presumed to be heroin and two small pieces of tinfoil with black burn marks. In a dresser in the main room deputies located a black jar with brown and white residue believed to be heroin and methamphetamine, according to the arrest report.

In a bin in the corner of the room deputies found 8 glass pipes, 3 with burnt bulb ends with white powder, presumed to be methamphetamine, numerous small plastic bags commonly used to sell, transport and store narcotics, 1 small glass jar with 3 cotton swabs with white residue presumed to be methamphetamine, a black pouch that contained 45 pills including Xanax and Alprazolam tablets, along with Suboxone films, which are medications that are prescription only. There was no valid prescription present.

Also located in the bin was a glass jar with white powdery residue presumed to be methamphetamine, pre-cut shopping bags commonly used to wrap points of heroin, small plastic baggies, measuring utensils with brown residue on cotton swabs, lighters and tools, a plastic bag with balloons, a small plastic bag with a yellow ballon with heroin residue, a tin container with 4 small containers with brown residue presumed to be heroin, a cloth with small shards of a white substance presumed to be methamphetamine, a pink tablet that tested presumed positive for MDMA in a small plastic jar. Bail for Stahl: $28,637. Bail for Bechtold: $23,637.

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.