Pair arrested for conspiracy involving thievery and drugs; suspect admits to committing 50 thefts in 7 months

Carson City Special Enforcement Team deputies arrested two people on a slew of offenses including organized retail theft, conspiracy to violate the uniform controlled substance act, possession of stolen property valued over $650, sales of a controlled substance, and more.

Ryan William Riggs, 31, and Angela Rebecca Bowman, 28, were both booked on the charges following an investigation that began on Oct. 7, 2019.

Bowman was suspected to be involved in several thefts of power tools from commercial retail establishments from Oct. 7 until Nov. 6, according to the report, and allegedly did so at the request of Riggs so he could trade the stolen property for drugs or cash.

On Oct. 7, CCTV and a statement from employees alleges that Bowman entered a local hardware store and selected a nail gun valued at $249, disabled the security device with a magnet, and put it in her purse before fleeing the store.

On Oct. 10, Bowman entered the store again and selected another nail gun valued at $199, and the same scenario reoccured.

On Oct. 31, Bowman entered a store and took a reciprocating saw valued at $279.99 from the shelf and concealed it in her purse before fleeing the area on foot. She was detained by a deputy, who released her at that time for further investigation and a warrant request, according to the report.

On Nov. 6, Bowman entered a store and used a magnet to defeat the security device on an impact driver and drill set valued at $179.99 before placing it in her purse and leaving the store.

An hour later, she was stopped by SET deputies who recovered the stolen property and took her into custody.

SET deputies along with investigators from the Nevada Department of Public Safety: Drug Task Force (TRINET) were conducting surveillance when they witnessed Bowman getting into a dark-colored sedan and leaving the area.

When deputies stoped the vehicle, Bowman attempted to conceal herself in the backseat with a pillow.

Deputies learned there was a warrant for her arrest out of Douglas County for retail theft at a hardware store in their county.

Deputy K-9 Ivo was dispatched to the scene and conducted a free air exterior sniff of the vehicle, and indicated here were drugs inside.

Bowman was discovered to be in possession of methamphetamine, heroin, and paraphernalia associated with the drugs. She was also in possession of tools she had stolen from the retail store, though the incident had not yet been reported to the police at that time.

Bowman agreed to speak with deputies and told them she was either purchasing drugs or trading stolen items for drugs to Ryan Riggs. She explained that she has completed multiple thefts, in addition to the ones reported to the police, and took the stolen property to Riggs where it was either sold or traded for drugs.

She allowed deputies to look through her phone and found several messages between Bowman and Riggs in which Riggs told her what to steal in order to receive drugs or money. She told deputies most of the items that were stolen were located at Riggs’ house.

Deputies located Riggs at a local casino, and Ivo conducted a free air exterior sniff of his vehicle in the parking lot, indicating there was drug odor coming from inside.

Deputies located Riggs inside and searched his person, finding a “substantial amount” of methamphetamine and heroin on his person.

A search warrant was granted for SET and TRINET to search Riggs’ property on Nov. 6.

Methamphetamine, heroin, paraphernalia, and indicia of sales to include pay/owe books and scales were located at the residence.

In a shed in the backyard, deputies located a sophisticated CCTV surveillance system with a live monitor. The cameras were equipped with infrared lenses. There was also a small amount of methamphetamine in another person’s room, and a scale and baggies on their nightstand.

Twenty power tools were located at the residence with a retail value of over $2,500. There were no receipts or other proof of purchase present with the tools.

Deputies spoke with Bowman again after the search of Riggs’ residence, and she was very cooperative, the report states. She told deputies she is a heroin addict. She said she had been friends with Riggs’ for 6-9 months and that he is her primary dealer for heroin and methamphetamine, which she buys in small amounts from him several times a week.

She told deputies that on approximately fifty occasions over the last seven months, she had stolen times from retail stores for the purpose of selling them on Facebook Marketplace or trading them for cash. She said she had discovered a way to defeat the security device with a magnet and could sell the tools for 50 percent of their retail value with ease.

She also admitted to selling drugs for Riggs after deputies found several messages in her phone from people asking to purchase drugs from Bowman.

Bowman has over ten arrests for theft and larceny crimes with three convictions for petit larceny and one for conspiracy to commit burglary.

Offenses for Ryan Riggs: Organized retail theft, conspiracy to violate the uniform controlled substance act, possession of stolen property, sales of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substance, conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Bail: $76,137

Offenses for Angela Bowman: Organized retail theft, conspiracy to violate the uniform controlled substance act, four counts commercial burglary, and four counts of petit larceny.

Bail: $41,948

— A 58-year-old Fernley woman was arrested Wednesday afternoon for defrauding an innkeeper and violation of a suspended sentence.

According to the report, deputies were dispatched to a restaurant on a report of a woman refusing to pay for her meal. When they arrived they spoke with an employee who stated the woman had come into the restaurant and ordered food costing $48.59.

The woman ate her food and then began wandering around the restaurant bothering other patrons, the employee said. The woman was asked to pay her bill and leave. She then ordered more food to take with her, bringing the total to $60.10.

After receiving the food, the woman told the employee she had no money and could not pay the bill, and she had no cash, credit or debit card.

The employee told the woman if she could not pay the bill she would call the police, and the woman left the restaurant. Deputies located the woman and she was taken into custody.

Bail: $1,302; $1,000 cash only

Warrants:

— A 24-year-old Carson City woman was arrested on a Carson City Justice Court Warrant Friday afternoon.

The warrant was issued on Oct. 23, 2019.

Bail: $1,000 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.