A Pahrump man apparently looking for a place to sleep was arrested in Tonopah on an outstanding traffic citation, thanks to a sharp-eyed Nye County Sheriff’s deputy.
As stated in a Nye County Sheriff’s Office news release, Deputy Ricardo Ramirez, while conducting a traffic stop in the Burger King parking lot in the small town, was approached by an individual who said he had witnessed a man breaking into an upstairs room at the Sundowner Motel.
After clearing the traffic stop, Ramirez arrived at the hotel where he began checking rooms on the second floor.
“While checking the rooms, I came across a room with the window broken right where the lock is,” Ramirez stated in the report. “The curtains were closed. I opened the curtains and found a male lying in bed identified as Paul Lefever out of Pahrump, Nevada.”
While conducting a warrants check, Ramirez noted that Lefever returned with a traffic citation for failure to appear out of Pahrump, with a cash bail of $515.
“When asked if he had permission from the owner, he stated that he did not,” the deputy stated in the report. “Paul then said that he found the window to the room broken and that he unlocked the window and climbed in. Paul then stated he had only been at the hotel for 20 minutes or so.”
During the investigation, Ramirez said he was able to determine that Lefever was aware he should not have been in the room of the motel.
The deputy also said Lefever told him that he did have a vehicle in town, which was parked at the Banc Club casino.
“The subject did state that he was homeless at this time,” Ramirez noted.
Lefever was subsequently arrested for trespassing and the outstanding traffic citation without incident and booked into the Nye County Detention Center.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes