Man jailed for hit and run near school, admits to taking six Ambien the night before

A 36-year-old Carson City man faces misdemeanor charges of hit and run and driving while under the influence of drugs after admitting he had taken six Ambien the night before to help him sleep and then woke up to drive his children to school.

The man was arrested March 7, 8:37 a.m. at his home in the 400 block of Winnie Lane after witnesses provided a license plate number following a vehicle crash in which the man fled without stopping. He also reportedly crashed into a curb, losing his hubcaps and was seen driving on a sidewalk.

According to the arrest report, officers were patrolling the school zone at Fritsch Elementary during the busiest time. The school lights were operating and it was at its height of when parents and children arrive to school.

A passerby told the officer that a crossing guard on Mountain Street needed to urgently speak with an officer. The officer drove a short distance and met with a crossing guard who said a white vehicle with Nevada plates that they identified, had struck another vehicle and drove off without exchanging information. The officer asked that the people who witnessed the accident to wait while the officer went to go find the other vehicle. Officers checked with dispatch on the vehicle license plate, which came back to the address in the 400 block of Winnie Lane and an apartment number.

The officer found the suspect vehicle parked and unoccupied. The officer knocked on the door and met a girl who opened the door. The girl told the officer her father had just gotten home from dropping her little brothers off at Fritsch, the arrest report states.

Officers then noted that the man came to the door and was stumbling. He said he had just got back from driving his sons to the school in the white car. The officer told him about the accident and the man said he did not remember any accident, the report states.

The officer notes in the report that as he was speaking, the man was extremely off balance. The man stumbled and knocked over items inside of the home, according to the report. He told the officer he took too many Ambien before bed and that he probably should not have taken the boys to school, the report states.

Officers helped the man to his car to show him the damage to the right front side. The officer showed him that he had two flat tires to the left side wheels of the car. Another witness later brought over the hubcaps from the car. The witness said she saw this vehicle a few minutes earlier also crash into a curb causing the hubcaps to come off and that the car also drove upon the sidewalk, the report states.

Other deputies arrived at the accident scene and met with the witnesses and the victim. The deputies then came to the location of the arresting officer and confirmed it was a hit and run. The man was taken into custody for hit and run based on his statements to the arresting officer and witnesses, the report states.

Once at the jail, the arresting officer Mirandized the man and he agreed to speak more. According to the arrest report the man agreed to participate in Field Sobriety Tests and answered the questionnaire portion of the FSTs and admitted to having taken six Ambien pills the night before to help him go to sleep. He also admitted to taking other medications.

During the questioning, the man remained unsteady on his feet. Another deputy assisted by standing close to the man during the FSTs in case the man were to fall over, the arrest report states. During the physical portion of the FSTs, the man did not pass the tests. Because he was unsteady on his feet he was told he was to be charged with driving under the influence of drugs. Blood tests were drawn and the man was taken to Carson Tahoe Hospital to be cleared due to concerns about his unsteadiness and claims of having taken so many Ambien, the arrest report states. Bail: $1,774.

In other arrests:

— A 37-year-old Carson City man turned himself into authorities March 7, 8:40 p.m. on a felony parole and probation violation and an outstanding warrant issued by Sparks Municipal Court.
Darren Eugene Garfield arrived at the jail back door, identified himself to authorities and said he was there to turn himself in for the outstanding warrants, according to the arrest report.

The man's name was entered into a system to check for outstanding warrants and Garfield's came back as a "priority 5" return from the Department of Parole and Probation and to be held without bail, according to the arrest report. The check also showed a confirmed warrant, dated June 27, 2012, with the Sparks Police Department for contempt of court.

— A 23-year-old Carson City man, Matthew Scott Hanson, who was in the custody of Douglas County, was arrested and transported to Carson City Jail on a confirmed warrant issued Feb. 8 for statutory sexual seduction with a bail of $10,000.
The arrest was March 6. The man had been in the custody of Douglas County for approximately 12 hours, according to the arrest report.

— A 24-year-old Carson City woman was arrested March 7, 7:25 p.m. in the 2500 block of Scotch Pine Drive and faces a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery.
According to the arrest report, officers arrived at the address after being advised that a female had called from a neighbor's home.

An officer responded to the neighbor's home and spoke with the 24-year-old woman. The woman told the officer that she was sitting on her couch when her husband asked to see her phone because he is insecure, the arrest report states. The woman said she would not allow her husband to have the phone. She said the man grabbed the phone and ran into the bedroom. She told police she gave chase and grabbed his shirt while trying to get the phone, the report states.

The woman told officers the man tried to push her off of him several times and that he pulled her in the bathroom in the master bedroom and tried to close the door, the report states. She told officers the man stepped toward her, bumping his chest on her nose and pushed her at the same time causing her to trip and fall over a small dog gate in the doorway, the report states. She said the man closed the bathroom door and said she was scared and walked to the neighbor's house across the street. She told officers she called the police because she was scared and advised she didn't want to file any charges, the report states.

The officer then spoke with the man who stated he and his wife were arguing because she is emailing a male she is working with. He said he is insecure from past relationships and asked to see her phone. The woman refused. So he grabbed the phone and ran into the bedroom. He said the woman "freaked out" and grabbed his shirt around the collar. He told authorities he struggled to get the woman off of him, the report states.

He said he did not want to hurt the woman so he tried to push her off of him toward the bed. When this was not effective he tried to close himself off in the bathroom, the report states, while the woman was hanging onto his shirt. He said he took a step toward the woman because she was using all her weight to pull him. He tried to make her let go by putting her off balance, according to his statement to police. This did not work and she ripped his shirt completely off his body. The woman fell into the dog gate and the man closed the door, the report states.

Officers noted some red marks around the man's neck. The man completed a statement and deputies took photos of the house and the woman's injuries. She was arrested and faces a charge of domestic battery (first.) Bail; $3,000.

— A 27-year-old woman was arrested in the 100 block of Harbin on March 7, 11:44 p.m. and faces a charge of misdemeanor domestic battery. Officers responded to the address regarding a domestic abuse phoned in by an anonymous caller.

Officers met with the 27-year-old woman who said no one in her apartment was fighting. She said that it was the apartment above her. Officers went to the apartment above the woman's and the occupant said it was the apartment below, the arrest report states.

Officers returned to the apartment where the 27-year-old woman lives and knocked three times, announcing "Sheriff's Department" numerous times, according to the report. The woman opened the door and denied any dispute, stating her fiance was in the shower. One officer continued to speak with the woman, while another officer spoke with the man. The woman stated that she and the man had indeed had a dispute but that it was not physical.

An officer entered the apartment and spoke with the man who was bleeding from his nose and had numerous scratch marks on his neck. The officer asked the man what had happened. He stated he did not want to get his fiance in trouble and offered to show, not tell the officers what happened, the report states.

He removed his shirt and officers could see numerous scratches on his chest and arms and a bite mark on his chest and left arm. The man informed the officer that he and the woman were in an argument over going to sleep. The man stated he told the woman that he was not a mind reader. The woman began to punch him several times with a closed fist, getting on top of him and scratching and biting him, the report states.

An officer spoke again with the woman and asked her how the man had received the wounds and marks on his body. The woman stated he fell in the apartment and that the injuries may have happened to him then. The woman was placed under arrest for domestic battery and taken to jail. Bail: $3,000

— A 18-year-old woman was arrested March 7, 7:36 p.m. in the 200 block of Allouette Way and faces a charge of domestic battery. According to the arrest report, officers were dispatched to the area on reference of a domestic battery. Upon arrival officers met with a man and the woman who was arrested. The two were separated and officers spoke with both.

The woman said her boyfriend called her and stated he was closing at work. The woman told officers this usually meant that he would not be home until 11 p.m. However he came home early but wouldn't talk to her. She said the man went to his room and packed a bag like he was leaving, the report states. She said the man attempted to walk away but she stood in the front of him. She advised that the man pushed her out of the way, which made her mad. She said she stood in front of the man and punched him in the chest several times with a closed fist, the report states.

Officers spoke with the man to get his side of the story. The man advised that he came home from work to change and go to his mom's home. He said he found out his girlfriend had cheated on him and wanted to get advice from his parents, the report states. He told the officer he attempted to leave and the woman kept pushing him back. The man explained that he pulled the woman out of his way so that he could leave. He told officers the woman punched him in the chest. He said he went outside and called his mother who then called 911, the report states.

The man showed officers his chest which had some red marks that were barely visible according to the arrest report. He said the marks were from the woman hitting him in the chest. He said he did not want medical attention.

Due to the totality of circumstances, officers determined the woman was the primary aggressor, the report states. She was arrested and taken to jail. She did not have any prior criminal history for domestic battery, officers noted in the arrest report.

— A 49-year-old Carson City woman turned her into the Carson City Sheriff's Office on March 7, 5:20 p.m. for having an outstanding warrant for failure to report (violation of a suspended sentence.) Bail: $3,000.

— A Carson City man was arrested March 7, 5:49 p.m. at the intersection of Spear and Carson streets. According to the arrest report, officers assigned to the Special Enforcement Team were on patrol in the area and saw the man getting ready to push a bicycle across the street.

The man crossed the street on the left side of the crosswalk. He had no lights on the bicycle and it was dark-hours. Officers stopped and spoke with him and recognized him as having a warrant for his arrest. The arresting officer put his hand on the man's shoulder to begin to detain him, the arrest report states. The man turned away, mounted on the bicycle and began riding north on Carson Street, the report states.
The officer chased him on foot for about 20 yards, and yelled at him to stop. He did not stop, but the officer caught up to him. He was taken into custody. The man did have a confirmed warrant and was transported to jail. Upon the intake search by a deputy, an un-capped hypodermic device was located in the man's right shoe, the report states.
The man faces misdemeanor charges of obstructing/resisting a peace officer, bicycle equipment required, pedestrian failure to use right half of crosswalk, violation of a suspended sentence and possession of a hypodermic device. Bail: $4,678.

— A 26-year-old Carson City man was arrested March 7, 1:20 p.m. in the 3700 block of South Carson Street and faces a misdemeanor charge of petit larceny.
According to the arrest report, officers responded to a grocery store for a report of a man in custody for suspected larceny.
Once on the scene officers made contacted with loss prevention who reported that the man was seen attempting to conceal a bottle of Tahoe Blue Vodka and two Rocky Road candy bars in his waistband.
The man then walked to the front of the store and did not make any attempt to stop at the check stand to pay for the concealed items. The man exited the first set of doors at the north end of the store and was stopped, detained and placed into cuffs by store security and escorted to the security office. The total value of the theft was reported to be $31.97. Bail: $342.

— Those arrested and facing charges are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.