Resident thwarts early morning would-be burglary

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong believes an attempted burglary of a Clear Creek residence and an attempted break-in at the Topsy Lane Walmart are connect. A Clear Creek resident thwarted a believed burglary attempt by firing four shots as a vehicle fled. The homeowner discovered a man dressed in orange lurking around his house at 3:58 a.m. Tuesday.Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said the man claimed to be from the gas company and was investigating a gas leak when confronted by the homeowner.“The resident was concerned because he doesn’t have (a gas) line,” Furlong said.The homeowner went back into his house, grabbed a pistol and went out to his front door. There, he saw a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee, parked right in front of his garage and the front door to his house. “The man got out of the (Jeep Cherokee) and said he was with the gas company,” Furlong said.The homeowner told the man he was going to call the police, and did. The homeowner fired four shots. Neither the car nor the men were believed to be hit, Furlong said. “The (homeowner) was afraid,” Furlong said.The man in the Jeep Cherokee fled, his tires screeching, and careened down a small hill onto an adjacent property, crashing the vehicle. “He slid down the hill into the bushes,” Furlong said.Two men are believed to have fled from the vehicle, which was reported stolen out of Carson City. The two men may have run farther down the hill, over the creek and into the hills.“The escape route was away from residences,” he said.Investigators determined there were two men from tracks left at the scene of the accident. They headed into the mountains south of Clear Creek toward Douglas County. Carson City and Douglas County deputies, along with Washoe County’s RAVEN helicopter, searched the area around Clear Creek and Jacks Valley on Tuesday morning.Furlong said he believed the burglaries may be related to an attempted break-in at the Topsy Lane Walmart a few hours earlier.The incident occurred at 2:25 a.m., when the man tried to forcibly enter an exterior rear door at the Tire and Lube Center, according to Douglas County Sgt. Pat Brooks.The subject appears to be a male, Caucasian, 30-40 years old, about 6-feet to 6-feet, 2-inches tall, large build wearing a dark-beige colored jacket, lighter beige-colored pants, and dark boots. The subject was seen driving a small, dark SUV. The black Jeep Cherokee had been reported stolen, as had the license plate on the vehicle, which was reported stolen from a different vehicle, Furlong said. The vehicle was reported stolen on Jan. 16 and the license plate had been reported stolen on Jan. 19.“We hope this will lead to strong evidence of who’s committing these burglaries,” he said. “If the car is stolen out of Carson, there’s a good chance the people we’re looking for are out of Carson.”