A 29-year-old man was arrested Monday for multiple counts of child endangerment and attempted vehicle grand larceny after he allegedly tried to steal a car parked in a fast food restaurant parking lot with a mother and four children inside, according to a Carson City Sheriff’s Office booking report.
Brandon Alexander Saaf of Carson City was taken into custody at 5:52 p.m. He faces charges of four felony counts child endangerment and two counts felony attempted grand larceny of a vehicle.
According to the booking report, deputies responded to a fast food restaurant in the 3700 block of North Carson Street at 5:24 p.m. for a report of an attempted vehicle theft.
Dispatch advised a thin built man jumped into the driver’s seat of a vehicle occupied by a woman, an infant and three children and attempted to drive off. Dispatch further advised the man exited the vehicle and left, heading north.
Deputies began a search for the suspect, and were advised a male subject who matched the description was walking north from the restaurant through the parking lot. One person said he saw a man who appeared to be “tweaking” and came up and was approaching people.
Carson City Undersheriff Jerome Tushbant located the male subject matching the description in a parking lot just north of where the incident happened.
Deputies arrived on scene and the suspect complied with all orders and got down on the ground and was detained. The man was identified as Brandon Alexander Saaf, and was in possession of a backpack, sunglasses and shirt, which were the descriptors given at the time of the attempted vehicle theft.
Officers read the man his Miranda rights and Saaf agreed to speak. He admitted to attempting to take two vehicles.
Officers learned the first vehicle was occupied by three 7-year-old children and an infant child and mother who was at the time of the crime breastfeeding the infant. Saaf stated he saw the children and exited the vehicle. He stated he has kids of his own and said that is why he did not take the vehicle, telling officers this was all part of a “joke,” according to the booking report.
The suspect further stated that he then attempted to steal a white pickup nearby and that the owner confronted him. He stated he exited the vehicle, looked into a camera and said it was part of a joke, the arrest report states.
He told the deputy that he was playing a joke, one that could be viewed on youtube, the report states.
Deputies spoke with the victims, including the mother who was breast feeding when the suspect entered the vehicle. She said when she saw him she screamed and began hitting him, and stated the man exited the vehicle, going northbound.
Officers interviewed the owner of the pickup, also in the same parking lot, in which the suspect attempted to steal.
The victim stated he walked his store, and then saw the suspect walk to the driver’s side door and got into his pickup. The victim stated he watched the suspect pull the sun visor down, appearing to be searching for keys. The truck owner confronted the man, asking him what he was doing. He said the suspect told him he was trying to steal the vehicle, the arrest report states.
Video footage from the fast food restaurant shows the suspect entering one of the vehicles, and then getting out, according to the booking report. Saaf was arrested for suspicion of four counts felony child endangerment, and two counts attempted grand larceny of a vehicle.
— 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.
