Carson City man arrested for brandishing gun at a grandma over mall parking lot dispute
Submitted by admin on Fri, 12/22/2023 - 11:13am
On Thursday afternoon, Carson City Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to the parking lot of Carson Mall for a report of a person brandishing a weapon in the parking lot.
According to the victim, she and her family were at the mall for family shopping. When they finished, they were loading their car in the parking lot when a white GMC truck pulled up behind them. The grandmother was behind their vehicle while her son-in-law and daughter were placing their infant in his car seat in the backseat.
She said the driver opened his car door and stood on the running boards and said “What? You are not going to let me park,” according to the arrest report.
The grandmother told the driver they would move as soon as they were done.
After loading the car, the grandmother said they were driving out of the parking lot when she saw the driver of the truck standing next to his vehicle with a black semi-automatic pistol in his hand. She said that he raised the gun into the air and smiled at her in a threatening manner.
She told deputies she felt threatened due to the verbal altercation that occurred during the parking incident, and when deputies asked if she wanted to press charges for brandishing a weapon she said she did.
Deputies went into the mall and located the driver who admitted to having a verbal altercation with the grandmother.
However, he said that while exiting his vehicle, he was attempting to place his firearm into a computer case before entering the mall. Deputies asked where the firearm was located in his car, and he said it was beneath the dashboard on the driver’s side, hooked to a magnet.
Deputies asked if he was inside of his vehicle when he retrieved his firearm, and he said no, he was standing outside of it, but “didn’t know how (the grandma) saw” the firearm.
Deputies asked where the computer bag was inside the vehicle, and the man said in the passenger seat. Deputies told the man his story made no sense, and asked why he would have exited the vehicle to place a firearm in a computer bag located in the passenger seat.
The man told deputies he “didn’t want to go around in circles with (them).”
When deputies first asked him if they could search his car, the man said no. However, when he was informed they would be seeking a warrant, the man said he “didn’t want to wait ten minutes to complete a warrant,” and gave deputies the keys to his truck.
Inside, deputies located the pistol beneath the dashboard on the driver’s side of the vehicle, which was loaded. However, they could not find a serial number for the firearm and asked the man if it had one.
The man said it did not, and that he had his manufacturing license, but could provide no proof that this was true.
Deputies also located a pistol semi-automatic lower receiver in the vehicle’s center console that also did not have a serial number, as well as two additional magazines filled with ammunition.
The man was taken into custody for two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm without a serial number and brandishing a weapon.
Bail not listed.
In other arrests
A 25-year-old Carson City man was arrested for DUI first drugs after running into pedestrians Thursday night in the area of Hot Springs Road and Nye Lane.
When deputies arrived on scene, they spoke to the driver of the vehicle who identified himself as the driver of the crash and provided information of what happened.
During the conversation, deputies noted that they could smell the odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from his person and asked how much he’d had to drink. He said not much, about half a beer, but said he’d smoked cannabis approximately 3-4 days beforehand.
Deputies performed a field sobriety test which resulted in multiple indicators of impairment.
Deputies placed the man under arrest for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, due to his clues of impairment and the fact that his PBT was only .037.
The two pedestrians struck in the crosswalk received minor injuries.
Bail: $1,137
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.
