Car theft victim detains suspect with crowbar

A 68-year-old Genoa man held a suspected car thief at bay with a crowbar Sunday while he waited for deputies to arrest the man accused of stealing one of his vehicles.

Kevin Fanning, 41, of Three Rivers, Calif., was held in Douglas County Jail on $30,000 cash bail charged with grand larceny of a motor vehicle and drunk driving with two or more priors.

According to the victim, he was watching football Sunday at his Genoa home when his wife yelled that someone drove away in his blue Suburban.

The victim said he jumped in his brown Suburban and followed the suspect.

The thief drove from Genoa to Minden and turned in at the townhomes near McDonald's. The victim said he drove into the bumper of the stolen vehicle to keep the suspect from leaving.

According to reports, he pulled Fanning out of the vehicle and "knocked the thief down a few times."

He also ran to a nearby apartment and asked the resident to call deputies.

When they arrived, the victim was standing over Fanning with a crowbar.

Deputies said Fanning refused to submit to tests, but smelled of alcohol.

In what deputies said was a spontaneous conversation, Fanning reportedly apologized and said he didn't know whose vehicle he was in or why.

He said he wasn't drunk when he drove from Petaluma, Calif.

A check of his driving record indicated prior convictions for driving under the influence from September 2001 in Redwood City, Calif., and March 2004 in San Rafael, Calif.

Fanning is to appear in court today.

n Deputies responding to an alarm at a Wells Fargo Bank automated teller machine discovered the ATM had been struck by a vehicle.

Deputies were called to the scene at 1:13 a.m. Tuesday by the report of an alarm. They discovered the corner of a machine outside the bank's drive through appeared to have been hit by a vehicle.

n A 40-year-old Reno man with 25 cents in his pocket was arrested Monday at Wal-Mart for reportedly taking a pair of pants and two bottles of auto sealer without paying.

Store personnel observed Todd Franklin Bucklew walking through the store with a Wal-Mart bag inside a shopping cart. He was accused of taking a $49 pair of pants from a shelf and putting them in the bag.

He tried to return the pants with an old receipt that was denied because the codes didn't match.

Witnesses said Bucklew walked out of the store without paying.

A security supervisor found the pants and two bottles of auto sealer worth $7.68 in the bag.

Bucklew told deputies he was trying to exchange the pants for money so he could buy diapers.

He was jailed on $25,000 bail on a charge of burglary.

n Deputies found a washing machine and refrigerator Sept. 25 that had been dumped illegally in Fish Springs.

Reports said the white Kenmore washer and brown General Electric refrigerator had been dumped in front a residence in the 1200 block of Jo Lane.

n The Douglas County Sheriff's Office reported 11 contacts for domestic violence Sept. 13-26.

There were five verbal domestics, two adult arrests and one juvenile arrest for domestic battery and three referrals to the District Attorney for review or prosecution.

Seven juveniles witnessed domestic violence and two juveniles were suspects.

The Family Support Council submitted nine requests to East Fork Justice Court for stalking and harassment orders with four approvals, one denial and four pending.

Connie Richardson, sheriff's office domestic violence prevention coordinator, said the average range is 12-14 contacts per week for this time period.

The average range of children witnessing domestic violence is 9-11 per week with juvenile suspects at 0-2 per week.