Accused vehicle burglar apprehended by resident

An alleged vehicle burglar, who was chased down by a Gardnerville Ranchos resident, will remain in custody on $83,155 bail.

Reese James Lindahl, 34, appeared for a bail hearing in East Fork Justice Court after being arrested early on Friday.

“The suspect was apprehended after he was caught in the middle of a vehicle burglary,” prosecutor Bethany Towne said. “A resident actually chased him down the street and held him until deputies arrived.”

Towne said that Lindahl was found with six people’s credit cards and a check made out to someone else.

She said neighbors have doorbell camera footage of Lindahl walking up to one vehicle, determining it was locked, looking at the camera before entering another car and rummaging around.

“He has a horrendous history of theft,” she said. “In this case he was rash enough to walk into people’s driveways and open their vehicle doors.”

Attorney Martin Hart argued that Lindahl has a job and a permanent residence and will appear in court.

He said that the crimes Lindahl is accused of are nonviolent.

Lindahl has served three prison sentences out of Douglas and Carson City and was last paroled in June 2023. A 16-72 month sentence for burglary out of the capital expired just three weeks ago.

Lindahl was ordered to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon.

Lindahl was sentenced to prison in 2020 for attempting to pry open slot machines with a tire iron at a Stateline casino in 2019.

• A California man appeared in East Fork Justice Court more than four years after he was originally ordered.

Richard Lee Rivera, 52, was booked Thursday afternoon on a $25,000 warrant after he failed to appear in connection with the theft of some batteries from the Gardnerville WalMart on Sept. 9, 2019.

Rivera is accused of being part of a crew who took a shopping cart filled with batteries out of the store in a 4:30 a.m. theft.

The men were found by deputies at the Carson Valley Inn where they were arrested. During his original appearance, he was given an Oct. 21, 2019, court date but didn’t turn up.

It wasn’t until Dec. 12, 2023, that he was arrested on a new burglary charge in California that the warrant was served and he was brought back to Douglas County.