Mayor's stepson returned to Douglas on police chase charges

Robert Michael Hernandez, stepson of Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira, was returned to Douglas County last week to answer charges from an incident last year involving a Washoe Tribal Police cruiser.

Hernandez, 21, is in custody in Douglas County Jail on $100,000 bail. He is to appear Jan. 16 in East Fork Justice Court on felony charges of eluding and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

He was returned to Douglas County Jail on Friday from California State Prison in Avenal, Calif., where he was serving a 16-month sentence on separate charges.

Hernandez was accused of driving a vehicle which rammed a tribal police cruiser on March 12, 2007, following an early morning chase from the Stewart Indian Colony to Indian Hills.

Passenger Fidel Fuentes, 25, was accused of tossing a stolen handgun from the car before he and Hernandez fled the scene.

Fuentes was arrested later that day when deputies found him in a backyard in the neighborhood where the altercation took place.

The weapon, reported missing by a Carson City resident, was found on a nearby cul-de-sac.

Hernandez was arrested April 29, 2007, in Palm Springs, Calif., on several new charges and the Douglas County arrest warrant. He was sentenced in California to 16 months.

Fuentes was sentenced in October to a year in Douglas County Jail. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess stolen property, a gross misdemeanor.

-- The Douglas County Sheriff's Office reported 23 contacts for domestic violence Dec. 19-Jan. 1.

There were 12 verbal domestics, six arrests for domestic battery, four referrals to the district attorney for review and one unfounded battery report.

Eleven juveniles witnessed domestic violence, one juvenile was a victim and one juvenile a suspect for a total of 13 contacts.

The Family Support Council submitted five requests to East Fork Justice Court for temporary restraining orders with four approvals and one denial.

The justice court approved two requests for antistalking and harassment orders, one request was denied and one is pending a hearing.

Connie Richardson, sheriff's office domestic violence prevention coordinator, said the average range for domestic violence contacts is 16-22 per week for the time frame. The average range for children witnessing domestic violence is 9-11 per week with juvenile suspects at 0-2 per week.