Carson City teen arrested on felony theft after allegedly complimenting customer’s gun, then stealing it

A Carson City teen was arrested for grand larceny of a firearm and possession of stolen property after allegedly taking a customer’s pistol during their vehicle maintenance. 

Christopher Collins (19) was arrested after deputies were dispatched to an auto shop in the 3000 block of S. Carson Street on report of a stolen handgun. 

Deputies met with the customer who said they’d arrived at the shop at around 4:30 p.m., and said they had a 9mm pistol under the driver’s seat when they turned over their vehicle to service technicians for a tire repair. 

They said they were positive the firearm was under the seat when they arrived because he recalled a technician commenting on the firearm saying “nice strap.” 

Deputies spoke with staff members who said they had video footage of the incident, and that they had an employee (Collins) waiting in the manager’s office. They believed Collins was responsible for the theft as they claimed he “has had issues with violating the law in the past” according to the report. 

The reporting deputy stated in the video at approximately 5:20 p.m. Collins can be seen sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle for several minutes and appears to be “feeling around towards the floorboard of the car, and then place something in his waistband area.” The video then allegedly shows Collins adjust his waistband numerous times while in the car, before stepping out of the vehicle, then adjusts his belt and waistband area again, then adjusts his shirt to cover “an obvious bulge in his waistband area.” 

Staff said Collins has only worked at the location for a few months, and the gun had yet to be located. 

As the gun wasn’t located yet, the reporting deputy stated that he and another deputy detained Collins at gunpoint before he was patted down to verify he was not armed. 

Deputies then spoke with Collins and asked if he knew why they were speaking with him, and Collins said he “assumed it was because of the gun that went missing” from a customer’s vehicle according to the report. 

He said he had no knowledge of where the gun was, and said he had complimented it and admitted he had seen it in the vehicle, but claimed he never touched it. 

When deputies told him the surveillance footage clearly shows him concealing something from the vehicle, and that hiding the loaded gun somewhere on site was a clear safety threat to anyone who might find it, Collins then admitted he’d stolen the gun and had hidden it in an upstairs trash can near the locker room, according to the report. 

The second deputy recovered the gun without issue. 

The reporting deputy then asked Collins why he’d stolen it, and he said he didn’t know, and that it was just sort of an “impulse.” He said he knew it was wrong and immediately regretted it, but thought it was too late to put the gun back in the vehicle. 

Deputies took Collins into custody and transferred him to the Carson City Jail. They learned is also under supervision with the Douglas County DAS, but when they contacted them, Douglas DAS said they did not wish to place a hold on him. 

The gun was returned to the owner who confirmed all rounds were accounted for. 

Woman arrested for warrant after driving ten miles under limit; passenger gave fake name on her behalf, claimed she was mute after a recent stroke 

A 39-year-old Carson City woman was arrested on a warrant for violating her suspended sentence after her passenger told deputies that the woman, who was stopped for driving ten miles under the speed limit on the freeway, was a mute after having recently suffered a stroke. 

Deputies recognized the woman from previous interactions while she was driving and began to follow her, noting she was driving ten miles under the speed limit on the freeway. 

Deputies approached the driver’s side door and made contact with the woman and her passenger, who stated the woman had had a stroke recently and could not speak with deputies. 

Initially, the passenger identified the woman by an incorrect name and provided an incorrect date of birth. She then later advised the woman was her daughter, and provided an incorrect middle name. 

Dispatch confirmed the woman had an outstanding warrant with a $3,000 cash only bail. She was taken into custody without issue, and transported to the Carson City Jail. 

The vehicle was released to the passenger. 

Bail: $3,000 cash only

Indecent exposure

On Tuesday evening a 36-year-old woman was arrested for indecent or obscene exposure after allegedly exposing herself to traffic in the area of N. Roop and E. William Street. 

According to the arrest report, deputies were dispatched to the area on multiple reports of a woman exposing her genitals to traffic as they drove past. 

When deputies were searching the area for the woman, there was another caller who advised that a woman matching the same description was in the parking lot of the court house harassing people. 

Deputies spoke to the woman and asked if she was exposing herself, and she said “yes, and said she needed to use the bathroom.” 

One reporting party deputies spoke with stated they had been walking from the public defender’s office when they saw the woman exposing her genitals to vehicles passing by, and that she had been lifting her shirt and attempting to speak to people in vehicles as they were stopped at the red light at Roop and Robinson. 

They said they also saw the woman pull her shorts down and “spread her buttocks while she was rolling in the grass.” 

Deputies placed the woman in handcuffs and took her into custody for indecent exposure first offense.

Bail: $2,500 

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.

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