A “high risk” traffic stop involving multiple vehicles along Highway 160 ended with the arrest of a married couple on several serious charges late last month.
Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill told the Pahrump Valley Times that emergency dispatchers received a call from the driver and reporting party, (RP), who said he was being chased by two minivans on the highway, all while both vehicles intentionally bumped, hit and struck his Nissan Rogue at highway speeds.
Dispatchers further advised deputies that the reporting party stated the minivan that was chasing him had hit him on both sides of his vehicle.
Additionally, the RP driving the Nissan told dispatch that his wife was in a lot of pain from their vehicle being struck by the suspect vehicles.
That woman was medically assessed and cleared.
In total, at least four deputies responded to the incident, due to the nature of the call, according to the arrest report prepared by Deputy Sedrick Sweet, who was first to respond.
Married couple, two infants
The drivers of the minivans were identified as husband and wife Seth Jenness and Cyndal Jenness of Pahrump.
“I observed that the vehicle had moderate damage to the lower front right side and lower rear right side of the vehicle,” Sweet’s report stated. “The vehicle also had moderate damage to the lower front left side as well. The damage appeared to have been caused by colliding with another vehicle. Two infant juveniles were also located in the vehicle.”
Sweet’s report further stated that the two minivans allegedly attempted to block both travel lanes of the highway.
“When he was able to pass them, they began to follow him aggressively by getting right behind his vehicle and honking their horns while turning on their high beam headlights behind him,” the report noted. “The reporting party stated that because of this behavior, he was scared to go home and did not want the two suspects chasing him to know where he lived.”
Dash cam video captured incident
While traveling northbound on the highway, Sweet said the reporting party turned onto Manse Road heading westbound toward Hafen Ranch Road.
“The two suspects continued to follow him aggressively as he turned on to CAAS from Manse to head back toward the highway as he called for help,” the report stated. “The gold in color minivan, that was driven by suspect Cyndal Jenness, rammed his vehicle twice as he was attempting to get away. He also had dashcam video evidence. The damage to both vehicles were consistent with the RP’s statement that his vehicle was rammed by suspect Cyndal’s vehicle twice on both sides of his vehicle.”
Shots fired
Once deputies spoke to Cyndal Jenness, they heard a different version of the story than what the reporting party stated.
“Cyndal Jenness stated that she was traveling down Highway 160 from Clark County back toward Pahrump when she claimed that her husband, Seth Jenness, was being brake-checked in his vehicle,” Sweet’s report said. “Cyndal also had dash camera evidence of the incident from the vehicle being driven by her husband. I viewed the dash camera evidence then spoke to suspect Seth Jenness, where he admitted to discharging his firearm.”
Evidence recovered
At least three shell casings were located in the area of the highway and CAAS Road, according to Sweet’s report.
Following further investigation, Cyndal Jenness was taken into custody for two alleged counts of battery with a deadly weapon for allegedly using her vehicle as a deadly weapon by intentionally ramming the victim’s vehicle, Sweet noted.
“Suspect Seth Jenness was taken into custody for one count of assault with a deadly weapon for aiming his firearm at the victim,” according to the report. “Suspect Jenness was also taken into custody for discharging his firearm three times toward the highway where others could be injured, and two counts of child endangerment by placing his two juvenile victim children that were in the vehicle in a situation where the children may have suffered physical pain or mental suffering due to his erratic driving behavior while chasing the victim and discharging his firearm.”
Both suspects were transported to the Nye County Detention Center (NCDC) where they were booked accordingly, without incident.
All told, Cyndal Jenness’ bail amount was set at $20,000, while Seth Jenness’ bail was set at $21,000.
The Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) was also contacted and advised of the incident involving the juvenile victims.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com.