Hearing set for rape suspect

A Carson City man accused of raping two teenage girls was arraigned in Justice Court on Wednesday morning.

Brandon Hicks, 18, appeared before Judge John Tatro via closed-circuit television for the early morning arraignment on charges of kidnapping, two counts of battery with intent to commit sexual assault by choking and three counts of sexual assault.

Hicks was arrested just after 6 a.m. Tuesday morning on a $200,000 warrant after DNA evidence came back allegedly linking him to the October and November rapes of the two girls with whom he was friends.

According to the police reports, in October an 18-year-old girl reported to police that Hicks was

supposed to be giving

her a ride home after a house party when he instead drove her to the Carson River.

After she rebuffed one advance by him as they sat on the ground outside his car, Hicks allegedly tried again. When the girl shoved him away and attempted to stand up, he allegedly shoved her to the ground, used his forearm to choke her and raped her.

In November, another 16-year-old girl came forward to report Hicks raped her at his home while her friends waited for her outside when she went there to try to recoup money she had lost in a bad drug deal that he had facilitated, the report states.

While the rape investigation was ongoing, Hicks became embroiled in a shooting in December, in which his friend was ultimately convicted of stabbing an estranged girlfriend and firing a weapon at her dad.

When investigators didn't immediately return Hicks' cell phone they had taken in the search for the shooter, Hicks threatened to "repeat" the shooting. He pleaded guilty to intimidating a public officer and was sentenced to three years probation on March 22.