Trial in vehicle theft scheduled to start Tuesday

A status hearing is Monday before a trial in a 2020 car theft case that is expected to start on Tuesday.

California resident Randy A. Martin, 35, is denying that he took a 1991 Blazer.

Martin is scheduled to appear in Douglas County District Court on Monday before the trial.

According to court documents, Martin said that another man gave him the keys to the Blazer on June 9, 2020, which actually belonged to an employee of the Hard Rock Casino.

Because the man was drunk, and the vehicle Martin rented to get to South Lake Tahoe was out of action, he said he drove them both to Reno.

Martin was recognized from security footage at the casino after he returned to Douglas County on a warrant, according to court files.

The Blazer was found stripped in Hayward, Calif. 

The trial is expected to take three days. Martin appeared virtually from Angels Camp, Calif., after his driver tried to take Highway 4, which he said they didn’t realize is closed in the winter.

He was ordered to appear in person for Monday’s hearing and for the trial.

Martin is represented by attorney Kris Brown.

• A $5,000 warrant was issued for a woman who admitted she was drunk during a July 9, 2021, hit and run while her child was in the vehicle claimed she was waiting for a coronavirus test on Monday.

Sara Rodriguez-Tegerdal, 37, also has an active warrant for East Fork Justice Court after she failed to appear in East Fork Justice Court in December.

Rodriguez-Tegerdal was involved in back-to-back collisions in the Gardnerville Ranchos while intoxicated. She also faces charges in justice court for driving under the influence.

• A Gardnerville woman received a suspended sentence in a child endangerment case with a warning that if she didn’t quit drinking and driving, she’d face more serious consequences.

Shalyn Nichold Lewallen, 38, acknowledged she had a severe alcohol addiction that saw her binge drinking.

“I want to get sober more than anything,” she said. “I know I messed up but that’s not who I am. I never want to go back to alcohol.”

Prosecutor Chelsea Mazza said that when Lewallen was arrested her 6-year-old son was hiding in the floorboard and it wasn’t until deputies cuffed her that she admitted the child was in the vehicle.

She was sentenced to 364 days in jail suspended on condition she attend the Western Nevada Regional Drug Court program.

• A woman involved in the theft of a laser level failed to turn up for a review hearing on Monday.

Leslie Renee Thompson, 41, was paroled from prison after being sentenced in July 2020 to 19-48 months in prison for theft.

According the court clerk, she owed $4783.76 in restitution and had paid $50.

An order to show cause hearing was set for Feb. 14, where she will either appear or there’s a chance a warrant will be issued for her arrest.

• A man who spent nearly four years on the lam after admitting to stealing $2,400 from his employer was sentenced to 12-30 months in prison on Monday.

William Esbit Jr., 45, bilked the American River Café out of the money over the course of a month in 2017. 

He admitted the charge but failed to appear in court on May 7, 2018.

On Monday he said he was essentially homeless for two years. He’d returned to Reno and was arrested on a warrant three days after Christmas 2021.

“I was in a dark place then,” he said. “I made bad decision after bad decision.”

• A man who lost his home in the Walker View Fire received probation for third instance of felony possession of a controlled substance.

Trevor Redrobe, 38, received a 12-30-month suspended sentence after the judge acknowledged that he had less than 2 grams of methamphetamine when he was arrested Jan. 4, 2021.

• A Dayton man who was convicted of a felony in Carson City received probation in a Douglas case, though he faces significant prison time if he violates.

Daniel Jonathon McRunnel, 25, admitted trying to obtain codeine from three pharmacies. 

He was sentenced to an underlying 12-30 months in prison for obtaining a controlled substance by fraudulent means. As part of his probation, he must attend Western Nevada Regional Drug Court.

He is on probation on the Carson City case with an underlying 12-30-month sentence for burglary of a business.

Should he violate his probation, he would face 2-5 years in prison.

• A Carson City man is serving out a jail sentence after he received three concurrent suspended prison sentences on Jan. 10.

James Albert Hernandez, 34, was ordered to finish his jail sentence before beginning his 18-month probation on the three felonies.

“I don’t have the tools to stay clean when I get out,” he told District Judge Tom Gregory. “I want to use the probation to help stay sober.”

Hernandez admitted to possession of methamphetamine and heroin.

He was ordered to serve 364 days in jail before he’s released to probation.

• A California man sentenced to prison for possession of a stolen vehicle and fraudulent use of a credit card is in custody on an alleged parole violation.

Jeremy Daniel Stritenberger, 45, received consecutive three-year prison terms in November 2019 after his July 21, 2019, arrest near the old power dam south of Gardnerville.

Prison records indicate that he was paroled in April 2020.

He was also ordered to pay $675 in restitution.

Stritenberger has been in Douglas custody since Jan. 20.