Carson City sheriff's deputies subdued a man who was armed with a loaded handgun in the Kmart parking lot Thursday evening after he "started getting wild," according to sheriff's Sgt. Wade Penegor.
No shots were fired in the struggle.
Earl Leslie Heltsley, 35, aroused suspicion when he offered cash to employees at the McDonald's restaurant, 2001 N. Carson St., to drive his car away. The employees called 911 to report the man was "being strange."
"He went up to Kmart there on the north end of town, and that's where my guys found him," said Penegor. "He told us he had a loaded gun on him."
Penegor said Heltsley appeared to be high on prescription and illegal drugs.
Heltsley resisted when officers tried to arrest him, Penegor said, and he was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital after the struggle in an ambulance. Sheriff's deputies in patrol cars escorted the ambulance.
"He's actually doing just fine," said Penegor. "We gave him some nighty-night juice so he's probably feeling pretty good."
Heltsley had a California driver's license, and although Penegor couldn't describe his vehicle, he said it had California plates.
