Underage man tries to buy beer with prison ID

A 20-year-old Gardnerville man who unsuccessfully tried to buy beer with a prison identification card is set for a hearing June 6 on charges he resisted arrest.

Ross Perusse, who appeared in court Wednesday in a sling, was arrested April 14 in Johnson Lane after he reportedly tried to purchase alcohol with an identification card from his recent incarceration in Nevada State Prison.

According to court documents, deputies were called to the store in Johnson Lane early April 14 on a report of people loitering in the parking lot.

A store clerk said a 20-year-old, identified as Perusse, was trying to buy alcohol.

She said she refused to sell it because he was underage and didn't have enough money.

As deputies arrived, the crowd dispersed and officers followed a vehicle on Downs Drive with a broken headlight.

The car stopped, but Perusse reportedly fled on foot, ignoring officers' commands to stop.

The officer said he drew his weapon when he saw Perusse reportedly pull a silver object from his pants pocket which turned out to be a cell phone.

The officer holstered his weapon.

He chased Perusse and said the suspect turned and lunged at him so the deputy struck him on the left arm using a "forward spinning strike" with his baton.

Perusse then reportedly tried to grab the baton, so the officer struck him on the left hand, fracturing the suspect's left middle finger.

Perusse was sentenced in August to three years in Nevada State Prison after he was kicked out of a regimental discipline program for fighting with another inmate.

He was arrested in 2005 for stealing a truck. While awaiting sentencing, Perusse was convicted last year of beating up a Douglas High School student whom he accused of being anti-Semitic.

Perusse reportedly told the deputy who arrested him April 14 that he ran because he just got out of prison and was on parole.

He is being held in Douglas County Jail on $25,500 bail.

-- East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl agreed Wednesday to defer sentencing for one year for an 18-year-old Minden man who has been accepted by Western Nevada Regional Drug Court.

If he is successful, Frederick Dudley will be allowed to withdraw a guilty plea on misdemeanor possession of stolen property.

He was arrested after a passport, car titles and wills were found in his bedroom.

Dudley claimed he was asked to hold the items for a friend and didn't know they were stolen.

-- A deputy investigating a report of an ex-felon in possession of firearms discovered he'd sold one of the weapons to suspect under a different name.

Steven Gingerich, 47, is set for a hearing on May 9.

He was arrested at a residence in Round Hill where he was living without the owner's permission.

Gingerich had been hired to work on the house and was allowed to live there briefly. The owner, who lives in Foster City, Calif., said he ordered Gingerich off the property, but discovered he was still at the residence.

Gingerich had convicted of robbery in California and forbidden to own firearms.

Acting on a tip, members of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Street Enforcement Team found five weapons at the residence including an assault rifle, two shotguns and two handguns.

The investigating deputy discovered that he'd sold one of the handguns to Gingerich in 2004, but the suspect used the name "Gingreich."