Carson City woman arrested for grand larceny, child endangerment after shoplifting spree

A 33-year-old Carson City woman was arrested for suspicion of felony grand larceny and child endangerment after shoplifting nearly $1,000 worth of merchandise from a local department store with her four-year-old child in tow.

Lauren Michelle Strange was arrested after deputies responded to the department store on reports of larceny.

An employee advised they had watched Strange steal multiple items by concealing them in a large bag and leaving the store without paying for them. Strange had her four-year-old child with her in the store.

The employee also told deputies they suspected Strange had been involved in additional thefts at their Reno locations, and have photos of her circulating throughout their network of stores to be on the lookout for her. The employee said they recognized Strange from the photos and began watching her when she entered the store.

For over two hours, the employee watched as Strange “carefully selected 40 items and conceal them in a large canvas bag,” according to the report. She was seen removing shoes from boxes, taking tags off merchandise and further concealing all the items.

Most of the items were clothing but the merchandise also included candy and toys. She paid for a few items in her cart before exiting the store with the remaining 40 items in her bag. She was confronted in the parking lot and escorted back without dispute.

The employee documented the items Strange had stole, which amounted to $891.

When deputies told Strange she was going to be arrested and taken to jail, she began to scream and cry, causing her young child to also scream and cry. According to the police report, the child was “sadly extremely terrified and pleaded not to take (their) mother to jail.”

Deputies told Strange she needed to call a family member or friend to come and take the child or they would be forced to call social services. A family friend came down a short time later and took custody of the child.

Strange told deputies this was not the first time she had stolen items from retail stores. She admitted she had stolen from the Carson City Walmart within the last few months. Deputies noted she was evasive about answering questions about past thefts, and they believed she was not being truthful about her shoplifting experience.

Deputies transported Strange to jail and charged her with Grand Larceny and Child Endangerment, according to the police report, for “submitting her four-year-old to her felony activity and the emotional trauma (the child) endured as a result of Strange’s behavior and disregard for her child’s safety and wellbeing.”

She also admitted to having five minor children in her custody at home who depend on her as their primary care giver, ranging in age from 17 to 4. She told deputies she believed her family friend would not be able to care for them properly in her absence, and that her husband and father of the children is working in Alaska. Bail: $27,000.

— Three Carson City residents were arrested by Carson City Special Enforcement Team deputies in the 500 block of Jeanell Drive Thursday afternoon for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and felony probation violation.

Christopher Schumacher, 36, Jennila Schumacher, 40, and Joshua Buck Harrison, 31, were arrested after SET deputies were contacted regarding a Parole and Probation search and seizure on the residence of the three, who were each on probation.

Parole and Probation advised deputies they had found multiple hypodermic devices, a taser, a knife, and two cell phones in two backpacks belonging to Harrison. In addition, a spoon was found coated in methamphetamine residue was recovered from one of the bags.

Harrison told deputies he had ran away from his rehabilitation center in Reno approximately four days before. He told deputies he had used methamphetamine four hours prior to contact with parole and probation, according to the report, and that he uses the drug intravenously.

In the Schumacher’s bedroom, deputies located drug paraphernalia along with methamphetamine in a drawer which also had multiple mail items with Jennila’s name on them.

Jennila told deputies Christopher had “slipped up” and used methamphetamine approximately four weeks prior, and that the methamphetamine and the paraphernalia both belonged to him. Christopher also told deputies the drugs and paraphernalia belonged to him.

The three residents were arrested, and are being held without bail on their felony probation violation holds.

— A 34-year-old Carson City man was arrested early Thursday for failing to register as a sex offender, a felony and misdemeanor ex-felon failure to register.

Rafael Oseguera-Mendes was taken into custody at 5:33 a.m. in the 1900 block of North Carson Street. According to the arrest report, deputies were at a casino attempting to locate a 911 hang up call. While looking through the area, another deputy saw Oseguera-Mendes gambling and recognized him from prior contacts.

A records check on the man was conducted through dispatch, which advised that he was still showing as being in the Nevada Department of Corrections system. The deputy asked the man when he was released.

He stated Jan. 6, 2019. The deputy asked dispatch if there was any documentation showing if the man had registered as a sex offender or ex-felon. In the local dispatch system there was a note advising the man needed to register as a sex offender when released from prison. The man stated he was unaware he needed to register as a sex offender or an ex-felon. He was arrested. Bail: $2,742.

— A 30-year-old Carson City woman, Kimberly Gale Cox, was arrested Thursday morning in the area of Rand Avenue and Long Street for suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and tail lamps required, a Carson City sheriff's deputy said.

According to the arrest report, a deputy observed a vehicle with a broken passenger rear tail lamp that was showing a bright white light. The officer stopped the vehicle for the violation and made contact with the driver and the sole male passenger. The deputy asked the woman for her license, registration and proof of insurance. The woman displayed sores on her neck and face consistent with narcotics abuse, the arrest report states.

While she was collecting the items requested by the deputy, both were asked if either of them had anything illegal in the vehicle and asked if there was anything a K9 would alert to. The woman stated she had a "point" of heroin inside the vehicle. She stated that she may have used it but wasn't sure. The man interrupted the woman and stated he threw it away and it was no longer in the vehicle.

The deputy informed both that he did not believe the narcotics were thrown away and encouraged both to be honest. The woman stated that if there was anything in the vehicle it would be in her "kit" and handed the officer a box. Inside the box the deputy located what the woman identified as a point of heroin, or one 10th of a gram. The officer also located tin foil with residue from smoking the heroin. The officer ran a check on both for warrants. The woman was removed from the vehicle and arrested. The vehicle was released to the passenger at the woman's request. Bail: $2,500.

— A 41-year-old man was arrested Wednesday, 3:22 p.m. in the 1400 block of Rand Avenue for misdemeanor suspicion of domestic battery and destruction of property.

According to the arrest report, deputies responded to the area for a report of a domestic dispute. Dispatch advised the subjects were separated and the female was in her vehicle on the north side of the property.

A deputy spoke with the victim who was sitting in her vehicle with two small children. She stated she arrived home from work to change out of her work clothes. She stated when she entered the apartment she observed her boyfriend on the bed, and believed he was passed out and could smell a strong odor of alcohol in the room.

She said she changed clothes quickly and exited the room. She said the man woke up, and she asked him for the keys to the car so she could pick up her daughter because her vehicle was almost out of gas.

She told deputies the man said he did not have the keys, and that he thought she had them. At that point, he became angry, grabbed her purse out of her hands and shoved her out of the apartment before slamming the door behind her and locking it. The woman stated she was 5 months pregnant and that the man shoved her with his hands on her shoulder.

She said she knocked on the door and asked the man for her purse back, but the man did not open the door. She said that she took her phone out of her pocket and called 911 to report the incident. At that time, she said, she went to her vehicle and got inside after telling her children to get in.

She told deputies the man came out of the apartment and began yelling at her, before grabbing the windshield wiper arm, ripping it off, and bending it. She said he then took out a pocket knife from his pocket and told her he was going to slash her tires. As he began to bend down to do so, she drove away as instructed by dispatch.

When deputies went to speak to the man, they noted he had red, watery eyes and smelled of alcohol. He told deputies he and the woman had argued, and she left. Deputies noticed a fresh cut on his palm and asked him what happened. He told deputies he had slipped and fallen in his room and cut his palm on the bed frame.

Deputies arrested the man for domestic battery and destruction of property, and he was taken to the jail without incident. Bail: $3,759

— All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.