It has been eight months since David Scott Killen took his wild ride from Stateline, through Carson City, and then down to Gardnerville, shooting up windows and scaring motorists.
Killen's progress as he made his way along Highway 50 , down Carson Street and south to Minden and Gardnerville could be tracked by the reports of broken windows.
Authorities were closing in on him as he took his last shot, at the drivers side window of a Valley mother while her daughter was in the car.
A cell phone call and a few blocks later, Killen was in custody.
It didn't take much of a search to uncover Killen's checkered past. He once set his neighbor's lawn on fire and was convicted for multiple arsons and sent to prison.
This case should have been a prosecutor's dream.
But then real life starts getting in the way. Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson had to recuse his department because he'd represented Killen when he was a defense attorney.
Many of the victims in the case couldn't identify Killen as the vandal.
In the end it all ended up as a case of everyone knowing Killen did it, but only being able to prove the one case.
We believe Killen got off light this time. We hope that he realizes his good fortune, makes his restitution and settles down to a law-abiding life.
But we suspect that any man who would leave a pregnant wife at home to find fun shooting out people's windows is likely to err again. We just hope no one else gets hurt in the process.
