Pahrump man who allegedly ordered Doberman to attack deputy faces charge of assault with deadly weapon

A Pahrump man who allegedly commanded his Doberman to attack a deputy is facing a charge for assault with a deadly weapon.

According to a Nye County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, deputy Alec Brian was dispatched to a residence just before 5 p.m., on Aug. 21 for a report of domestic violence there. Thomas Karr had allegedly locked his wife outside and refused to let her inside their home.

Initial contact

“When I arrived, I encountered Thomas Karr, who had previous law enforcement contact earlier in the day due to having domestic issues with his wife at a different location,” according to Brian’s report.

“During our contact with Thomas at the time, their dog, a large Doberman approximately 90 pounds, who is a trained protection animal, according to both Thomas and his wife, was clearly aggressive, barking, and attempting to attack us. The dog was restrained by a leash at the time.”

Dog unleashed

During the encounter, Karr told Brian that his wife was in the backyard of the residence.

“I then went around back to speak to the wife and as I was having a conversation with her about what happened, Thomas opens the door of the house and sends the dog to attack us by saying ‘go get them,’” according to the report. “The dog then immediately charged us in a clearly aggressive manner. Thomas willfully and maliciously sent the dog to attack us. At this point, I felt that I would have to defend myself against the dog, but the wife called the dog off, which prevented him from harming us. Thomas then came out of the house and apologized for sending the dog to attack us. Thomas admitted that he knew it was wrong.”

Charge brought forth

As a result of the incident, Brian concluded that Karr was in violation of Nevada Revised Statute 200.471, that being assault on a protected person by attempting to use force or violence against him by purposefully and maliciously sending his trained and violent dog to attack.

“The dog was only stopped as the wife was able to give it a command to halt the attack.” Brian’s report stated.

Karr’s bail amount was set at $10,000.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes