Man fails to appear after arrest in California

A $5,000 warrant was issued for the arrest of a man who is accused of attempting to elude Douglas County deputies.

Erik Jon Vlach, 31, was scheduled to appear for arraignment on Monday, but did not appear, as he was in custody elsewhere.

His attorney said he was in jail in Santa Cruz County, Calif., on a variety of charges including burglary and possession of a controlled substance and of several identities that didn’t belong to him.

Vlach was arrested after he ducked onto Airport Road and pulled behind a business on Meridian where he was spotted. He tried to show an ID that didn’t look like him.

• A 23-year-old woman who was convicted of entering a Gardnerville apartment and taking her daughter in violation of a protective order will spend six months on probation.

Maira Alejandra Zermeno-Barajas received a suspended 12-30-month prison sentence.

She was arrested on May 30, 2020, after she barged into a Village Way apartment and took her child and a car seat.

She has been in and out of custody since, having served 352 days in jail over the last 16 months. She entered a no contest plea to felony child concealment. The father of the child testified on Monday that he hasn’t seen her since turning her over to Zermeno-Barajas in July.

Zermeno-Barajas was sentenced to 90 days in jail in East Fork Justice Court on charges of violating the protection order and battery.

• A Sunridge man admitted to charges of principal to burglary and fraudulent use of a credit card.

Marc Glen Chapple faces up to nine years in prison and will have to pay back $10,000 after he and his wife opened a letter containing an unemployment card belonging to a former roommate.

Chapple allegedly used the card to purchase a cell phone and a laptop including a protection plan using his own contact information.

• A former Gardnerville couple was sentenced this week after more than three years avoiding prosecution for possession of a controlled substance.

Lisa Marie Garrison, 51, was ordered on Monday to serve six months in jail as part of a suspended 12-30-month prison sentence after she admitted to a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Raymond Garrison, 45, appeared in court on Tuesday for sentencing on the same charge. He received a suspended 19-48-month prison sentence on condition he complete Western Nevada Regional Drug Court and serve 180 days in jail.

The couple were originally arrested Feb. 23, 2018, at their Ruhenstroth home.

They absconded to Oregon and weren’t caught until they returned to Gardnerville on June 16. Both entered pleas, and Lisa Garrison was released pending her sentencing. She bailed out Raymond and they took off for Oregon again and had to be extradited back to Nevada after they were arrested on a warrant Sept. 1.

They were ordered to pay $1,181 to transport them back to Minden.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed that the charge was one that required mandatory probation.

“I don’t see you as a good candidate for probation, but I’m required to give you probation,” District Judge Tom Gregory said.

• Sentencing was delayed in the case of a South Lake Tahoe man who spit on four deputies who were trying to take him into custody.

Isaias Montoya, 25, was arrested June 18 for walking on the highway while intoxicated.

He faces up to 364 days in jail on the gross misdemeanor charge of unlawful expulsion of bodily fluids.

Montoya admitted he was intoxicated. He said that he’d been to prison twice in California, once for burglary and a second time for possession of a firearm by an ex-felon.

“You’re walking around with a bag full of foolishness,” District Judge Tod Young said. “You need to put that bag down.”

Young said an Oct. 26 sentencing date to give the deputies an opportunity to testify in the case.