Crime Corner
COPS: Couple found passed out in car in middle of intersection
Police responded to reports of a car sitting at an intersection, its engine idling July 6 at about 6 a.m. only to discover two people passed out inside.
The vehicle’s driver was identified as Joseph Frank Urban. His passenger was identified as Jennifer Anne McGowan. A witness told police that the car had been sitting at the intersection of Gamebird Road and Percheron Avenue for about two hours.
According to a police report on the matter, both Urban and McGowan were “lethargic and drowsy” when confronted by officers. The report noted that each also had “open sores throughout their body and fresh needle track marks” consistent with drug use.
McGowan was subsequently arrested on a warrant. A search of her person uncovered small vials of what deputies believed was methamphetamine. Meth was also found inside the vehicle. A search of McGowan at the jail also uncovered a hypodermic device.
Urban was booked on multiple drug charges, including conspiracy to violate the uniform controlled substances act, possession of drug paraphernalia, DUI, and possession. McGowan was charged similarly and possession of a hypodermic device was added to her charges.
COPS: Knife-wielding man hides in restaurant, threatens manager
The manager of a local fast food restaurant called police after a man pulled a knife on him as he was closing up the business.
The manager of the local McDonald’s was closing the restaurant on July 4 when he discovered a man hiding inside the establishment.
When the manager asked the man to leave, the suspect pulled a knife out of his waistband and held it to the victim’s face, saying “I’ll f***ing kill you” to the victim, according to a police report on the matter.
The victim was able to get the man to calm down and leave the business after a time and followed the suspect across Highway 160 to the Pahrump Nugget. A witness at the casino told police they saw the suspect, later identified as James Donnelly, walking through the parking lot, yelling and waving a knife.
The manager by that time had called 911. Donnelly was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Police also recovered the knife, which the restaurant manager was able to identify as the weapon used by Donnelly.
COPS: Man tries to beat the heat with ceiling fan theft attempt
In a case of beating the heat, police say a man walked into a garage located at 5420 Pahrump Valley Boulevard on July 12 and was caught stealing a ceiling fan.
The owner of the property caught the man, later identified as Thomas Isaiah Townley, pilfering the fan red-handed. When confronted, Townley allegedly told the man he had the owner’s permission to take the fan. But the man said he was the owner and didn’t know who Townley was. Townley left the fan where it was a left in a white Jeep Cherokee.
The property owner called police and told them about the incident and that someone also took a water heater from the property two months ago. Police later caught Townley at a gas station and confronted him about attempting to steal the ceiling fan.
“He stated that he needed it for his house because it was hot,” a police report on the matter states.
Townley was asked if he also stole a water heater from the property. He said he had indeed scrapped a water heater in the last few months — but he took that from another person’s property.
Townley was promptly arrested on a charge of petit larceny but may eventually face a more serious burglary charge.
COPS: Mom caught driving — Budweiser in hand, baby on board
On July 13, an off-duty deputy called 911 to report witnessing a woman operating a motor vehicle with an open container.
Serenity Faith Crain-Schroeder was subsequently pulled over near Windsong Lane and David Street at about 7:10 p.m. A police officer saw her pull over to allow a male occupant into her car; she took a swig of her Bud Light and then drove off.
When pulled over, the deputy noted the cold beer in her center console and the 1-year-old baby strapped into the back seat. Asked how much she’d drank that night, Crain-Schroeder said she consumed about three beers before popping the top on the fourth and getting behind the wheel.
“She stated she was told by her husband who is unlicensed that she should not be operating the vehicle,” according to a deputy’s police report.
Though she managed to pass one of three field sobriety tests, Crain-Schroeder failed a breathalyzer, which allegedly pegged her blood alcohol content at four times the legal limit. She was arrested without incident.
COPS: Double dog dealer claims sellers remorse, goes to jail
One woman’s sellers remorse led to her arrest on July 10.
Henriette Charline Delpierre faces a burglary charge after selling a man a German shepherd and then deciding she wanted the dog back, breaking into his home to retrieve the animal.
The victim, a man named Paul Richen, called police on July 8 to report that he went to sleep with his new dog lying next to his bed. He even had the dog on a leash. But when Richen awoke, the dog was gone, off its leash and the door to his home was open.
Richen called the Pahrump Valley Times to report his suspicions that the woman who sold him the dog earlier was the same person who stole it back. He had seen an advertisement for the very same dog in that day’s newspaper. Richen had paid $150 for his new companion.
The PVT called Delpierre on Richen’s behalf. She told the newspaper that she did take the dog because she had made a mistake — Richen, being in poor health, perhaps couldn’t take care of the dog properly, or worse, perhaps the dog would hurt him, she feared. She also told the newspaper that she was sending Richen a certified check refunding all of his money and that she was terribly sorry.
Unfortunately for Delpierre, Richen had already told police of his suspicions. When they showed up at her home at 1200 West Mesquite, not only did she admit to taking the dog — she related again how she was afraid the dog would hurt Richen — but the responding deputy saw the dog in her backyard.
Delpierre was subsequently taken into custody.
