A 41-year-old man was jailed Monday on a felony charge of vehicle burglary and a lesser charge of domestic battery after an argument over taxes and paperwork escalated with his former common law wife at her place of business.
David Alexander of Dayton was being held at Carson City Jail on $28,137 bond. According to the arrest report, Carson City Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a casino in the 3800 block of South Carson Street in reference to a domestic battery.
Officers met with the victim in the security office as well as a security guard. The woman said Alexander, her common law husband of 22 years, came to the casino angry. She said he had been calling her several times since the protection order on him expired April 16. She said Alexander's primary complaint was that she had multiple items of mail for him including some information needed to file his taxes.
Alexander entered the casino and approached the cafe where the woman is a waitress. A deputy reviewed surveillance footage where he walked quickly and directly to the woman's work station and entered an area usually reserved for employees, the arrest report states.
Alexander finds his common law wife and begins yelling and cussing to hand over his tax papers and mail. The woman is startled and tells him to leave. The man further verbally abuses her an another waitress who tried to intervene by getting him to leave, the arrest report states. The woman is seen holding a glass in her hand Alexander grabs it out of her hand and slams it down on the counter while shouting in her face. At one point the woman tells the man the papers he wanted were in the car and she takes the keys out of her pocket. She tells him she will go get the paperwork that he needed.
According to eyewitnesses and what the deputy saw on surveillance video, Alexander then attempts to take the keys out of the woman's hand. She initially kept a hold of them but Alexander violently grabbed them, breaking an electronic key on the key ring. By this time security enters the area and finds Alexander trying to flee the casino. The woman is seen on the video frantically running after Alexander as security follows him out.
Alexander then gets into his car and drives through the parking lot, finding the woman's car at the top of the parking garage. He then used the key he stole from the woman to enter the vehicle. He is seen in the video rummaging quickly through the car removing several items from the front seat, back seat and trunk. He then jumps back into his car and flees the area.
The woman allowed deputies to photograph her left middle finger which had fresh blood around it and under the finger nail. She said Alexander caused the injury when he was either grabbing the glass from her hand or when he was yanking the keys away from her. She declined medical attention and completed a written statement.
Multiple witnesses, including security guards, waitresses and cooks wrote statements supporting the woman's story. The deputy was contacted by the casino's head of security who advised they were reviewing and preparing video of the entire event, which they would provide the sheriff's office with a copy.
Deputies then called and spoke with Alexander and advised that he needed to speak about the incident. After listening to the deputy for a few moments, Alexander declared he did not want to go to jail and hung up on the officer, the arrest report states. The officer called back and left multiple voice messages and requested contact to speak about the incident.
About 10 minutes later, the officer tried to call Alexander one last time and he answered. The officer requested to meet with him at the Sheriff's Office front counter for an interview. Alexander told the officer he was concerned he was going to jail but agreed to meet with the officer, the arrest report states.
Alexander and the officer met and he was advised that he was a suspect in a domestic battery and vehicle burglary. The deputy read Alexander his Miranda warning and he agreed to speak about the incident. He said the woman has been nothing but trouble for the past few months. He said the woman has kept him from seeing their two children, which has been inconvenient and admitted to being upset with her, according to the arrest report.
He said he was aware the restraining order had expired, had no idea the woman had been in the process of serving him with another one, and that's why he kept calling her, asking for his mail and the paper work and it is why he drove to her place of employment to confront her about the issue, the arrest report states.
He told the officer he went to the woman's work station and was polite at first. When the officer told him there were multiple accounts of what happened — that he was shouting, cussing and frightened the woman — Alexander told the officer that she is a frightful person in general.
He said when the woman gets upset she holds onto things, in this case, she held a glass in her hand. He said he wanted the woman to hear what he had to say and so he forcefully removed the glass from her hand and set it on the counter, he told the officer. When the waitress intervened on behalf of the woman, he told her it was none of her business, the arrest report states.
The same with the woman's car keys, he told the officer. She held them in her hands and he tried to grab them away from the woman so she wouldn't have a chance to change her mind, Alexander told the officer. He said he wanted to get his stuff out of her car and was tired of the woman giving him the runaround. The arresting officer noted the man was calm as he gave his account and stated that in his mind he did nothing wrong.
He was arrested on charges of domestic battery and vehicle burglary. He was also served an extended protection order. Bail: $28,137.
In other arrests:
— A 54-year-old Carson City man was arrested Monday,7:26 p.m. in the 900 block of east Fifth Street on a gross misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure. According to the arrest report, the man was intoxicated and urinated toward a wall in an apartment complex in front of a 9-year-old child, exposing his penis as he was urinating. The mother of the child advised she wanted to file a citizen's arrest report. The man said he urinated on a fence and the fence was his property and therefore it was OK. Bail: $2,500.
— A 44-year-old Carson City woman was arrested Monday, 8:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Sherman Lane on a misdemeanor charge of warrant violation of alternative sentencing. Bail: $3,000.
— A 30-year-old Fallon woman was arrested Monday, 7:42 p.m. in the 3700 block of Tuolumne Way on misdemeanor warrant charges of violation of a suspended sentence and contempt of court. Bail: $6,000.
— A 49-year-old Reno woman was arrested Monday, 9:01 p.m. at the intersection of North Carson Street and Bath Street on suspicion of first offense DUI and basic speed, 38 mph in a 25 mph. Bail: $1,254.
— A 44-year-old Carson City man was arrested Monday, 7:41 a.m. in the 500 block of North Stewart Street on a misdemeanor criminal contempt warrant. Bail: $500.
— A 50-year-old Carson City man was arrested Sunday, 9:27 a.m. in the 200 block of West Caroline Street on misdemeanor charges of warrant failure to appear in court, issued out of Douglas County April 6, 2000 ad possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail: $1,466.
Those arrested and facing charges are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.