Bail set at $110,000 for suspect in domestic battery

Bail was set at $110,000 cash Monday for a 21-year-old Gardnerville man accused of trying to strangle his 18-year-old girlfriend and threatening to kill her if she called 911.

Nyle Silva was arrested Saturday after he was stopped in a vehicle he reportedly stole from his girlfriend's grandparents with whom the couple lived along with their year-old son.

Silva was out on his own recognizance after an Oct. 30 arrest on suspicion of a strong-armed robbery at a Chinese restaurant in Gardnerville. In that case, Silva was chased down by Rony, a Douglas County Sheriff's Office canine officer.

In the Saturday incident, Silva was charged with misdemeanor battery that constitutes domestic violence and felony coercion.

He is accused of choking his girlfriend and using physical force and violence to keep her from leaving and calling for help.

Deputies were called to the Orchard Road residence shortly after midnight Saturday by the victim's grandmother who said the young woman was being abused.

Deputies said her injuries were consistent with manual strangulation.

The victim said she was falling asleep when Silva entered their bedroom and said he wanted to go gambling. She said she refused to drive because she was intoxicated and he had no license.

She said he straddled her on the bed and choked her to the point where she couldn't breathe or scream. He dragged her into the bathroom where he squeezed her hands so hard she was afraid he would break them. Silva allegedly forced her hands on the floor and stood on them so she couldn't get away.

She said she agreed to go outside with him because she thought she could escape. He told her not to call deputies "or I'll beat you like a man."

The victim said she tried to climb a fence, but Silva knocked her to the ground and dragged her through the yard by her hair.

She said her grandmother, awakened by the noise, came outside and asked what was going on.

The victim called 911 when she and her grandmother went to another room. After the suspect heard them make the telephone call, the young woman said Silva packed a suitcase and left, taking a vehicle without permission.

He was arrested at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Silva previously was named as a suspect Oct. 30 in a domestic battery report, hours before he reportedly tried to rob the Chinese restaurant.