Nye County commissioner accused of choking woman over stolen cash

A woman told authorities that Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo choked her last month over $77,000 in missing cash, according to an incident report released Tuesday.

Deputies were called on the afternoon of March 28 to Blundo’s Pahrump home, where the elected official reported that the cash and a Glock handgun had been stolen from him, according to the report from the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.

Blundo said the money and gun were stored in his SUV and a safe. The woman, whose name was redacted in the report, told a sheriff’s deputy that $8,000 in cash and another gun had been taken from the SUV in the past, but Blundo did not report it.

According to the incident report, the woman disclosed that Blundo held her down by her throat when he discovered the large quantity of money missing on March 28. In her written statement, she said he had called her names, “but then said that what I needed was a slap in the face like they could do in the 70s.”

Blundo, who is running for re-election this year, refused to answer questions about the battery allegations, according to the report.

Deputies submitted the case to the Nye County district attorney for prosecution on a domestic battery charge.

“Commissioner Blundo denies all false allegations and asks for privacy as he and his wife decide how to best move forward in their marriage,” Blundo campaign consultant Rory McShane said in an email earlier this month.

Blundo was arrested in 2020 on charges of misconduct of a public officer stemming from allegations that he illegally and unethically voted on coronavirus-related relief funding that benefited Blundo’s restaurant. The Nevada attorney general’s office declined to move forward with charges after the Nye County district attorney’s office referred the case for prosecution.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.