10-year-old testifies about home invasion

A 10-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos boy testified Friday he could identify the man who allegedly broke into his house while he was home alone because the suspect lived next door.

The boy took the stand in East Fork Justice Court at a preliminary hearing for Todd Holdren, 23, charged with felony home invasion.

"I was feeling scared," the child told prosecutor Erik Levin.

He said his father and older brother left a few minutes before 10 p.m. May 14 to stop in briefly at a birthday party about a quarter-mile from their home in the 1300 block of Honeybee Lane.

"A little bit after they left, the dogs started barking and I looked outside the window and saw a shadow walking by. I thought it was a skateboarder or somebody on a bike," the young witness said.

The boy said he could see out a window that Holdren had walked up to the door, knocked and started laughing.

"I know Todd," he said. "He lives with my friend and his family."

He said Holdren was yelling for the boy's father and older brother.

"He was cussing and kept on repeating 'the f-word.' I could talk to him through the window and I kept saying, 'He's not here. He's not here.' I saw him punch the door and the window. That's when I ran into my dad's room called 911," the boy testified.

He said Holdren left, but came back a short while later and reportedly broke out the outside light and kicked the door open.

"He was in the house," the boy said. "He broke part of the door and he was actually bleeding. There were blood marks on the side of the wall."

He testified that Holdren crossed the threshold into the house, but didn't come any further.

"He was just mumbling a little bit, stumbled out the door and left," the boy said.

Under questioning by defense attorney Derrick Lopez, the boy said he'd been in Holdren's house several times playing with his friend and had no reason to be afraid of him.

"I would not, or my dad or brother, ever expected that," the boy said.

He said both doors were locked and he didn't give Holdren permission to enter the house.

His father testified that he and his older son were gone about 20 minutes when he got a call from the sheriff's office there was a problem at home.

"I was very surprised it happened," he said. "I just waved to him (Holdren) two days before."

He said his family moved in the house in December 2008 and had no problems with the neighbors.

"I was very surprised it happened," he said.

Nestor Sanchez, Holdren's roommate, testified the suspect had lived with him for two years.

He said Holdren had been having difficulties since his mother died in 2007.

"He told me he misses his mom. I tried to calm him down a little bit. He went to (the) house and I heard the door banging and he came back. I told him to stop. He said he misses his mom and can't take it anymore. He ran back to the house and came back," Sanchez testified.

He said Holdren appeared to be drunk. Sanchez said he could smell alcohol on the suspect's breath and he fell twice while running between the houses.

"He was mumbling most of the time," Sanchez said.

East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl bound the case over to District Court and ordered Holdren to appear June 14 before Judge Michael Gibbons.

Levin opposed a request to relax the terms of Holdren's house arrest.

"This is a serious crime," Levin said. "When he (Holdren) came through that door, there are a lot of people in Nevada who would have shot him then and there. In some respects, he's lucky he picked on a house with a 10-year-old in it."

Lopez argued there was no physical harm to the victim or animosity to the family.

"I have mixed feelings," said East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl. "There is no evidence of intended harm, but it doesn't lessen the impact on a little 10-year-old boy alone behind locked doors and scared to death. Probably 70 percent of the people in this community would have fired at Mr. Holdren and we'd be having a coroner's inquest."

EnEarl left the terms of Holdren's release intact.

He is on house arrest, with an ankle monitor and under the supervision of the Department of Alternative Sentencing with orders to stay away from the victim.