A Carson City man was arrested early Monday morning after he and another man allegedly stole a generator from Goni Road and led police on a search through the hills of east Carson City.
Steven Hipple, 37, was booked into the Carson City Jail on suspicion of felony burglary, misdemeanor fictitious registration and driving on a suspended license.
According to police records, an alarm was activated at the Cinderlite pit at 6100 Goni Road about 5:32 a.m. When an employee went to the area to investigate, he spotted a truck leaving the yard and driving east on Arrowhead Road.
The employee followed the truck onto Centennial Drive, then Highway 50 to Deer Run Road.
Detective Brian Humphrey said the suspects apparently noticed they were being followed and began to speed away.
"The vehicle eventually was involved in a single-vehicle accident - it lost a tire - at Sierra Vista and Arroyo Vista lanes near the Mexican Dam area and two guys got out running," he said.
Hipple was arrested after he was allegedly spotted hiding in the brush, Humphrey said.
According to the report, Hipple admitted seeing the generator at the yard a few days earlier and when he found someone to buy it, he and a friend returned to steal it in a truck he claimed he "found in Storey County near Sutro Springs."
The owner of the truck has not been identified. Hipple allegedly admitted changing the plates on the truck.
About 8:14 a.m., Sheriff Kenny Furlong asked Washoe County to send its helicopter to help scour the hills in an attempt to locate the second suspect. The helicopter assisted for about 45 minutes, and the ground search was called off about noon, said Lt. Ken Sandage.
Humphrey said the generator was recovered from the bed of the pickup.
Hipple is being held on $25,000 bail. Investigators are still working to identify the second man.
n Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.
