A Scenic Tour in a Borrowed Automobile
It was late Monday morning on USA Parkway when three Stockton citizens set out in search of scenery and found the law instead. The sun was up, and the road was open, but the car, it turns out, was not theirs.
Storey County deputies, who have developed a suspicious nature about other people’s automobiles, were alerted to a stolen vehicle traveling the highway just after 10:45 a.m. They located it and conducted what is known in polite society as a traffic stop, and in less polite society as the end of a pleasant excursion.
Upon inquiry, the officers learned that the passenger had thoughtfully delivered the car to the driver’s home so the pair might embark upon a scenic road trip. The driver, being a man of adventurous spirit, agreed. Somewhere along the way, they collected a third traveler, a lady, thus improving the conversation if not the circumstances.
When informed that there was a report of the vehicle as stolen, the trio expressed a unified astonishment. Two of the three even explained that the car was on loan from a friend.
Deputies, ever fond of clarity, contacted the actual owner, who stated he did not know the travelers at all and had not, to his recollection, loaned out his automobile for the appreciation of Nevada’s natural beauty. At this point, the scenic tour concluded.
A search of the vehicle yielded further curiosities, including what deputies described as a large amount of marijuana, certain controlled substances, paraphernalia suited to their enjoyment, and tools commonly associated with burglary, which is to say, tools seldom included in a standard roadside picnic kit.
Booked into the Storey County Detention Facility were near-elder Thomas Clark III, 60, for suspicion of possession of a stolen motor vehicle; possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance (less than 14 grams, first offense); possession of 1 to 20 pounds of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of burglary tools; and the additional inconvenience of having no valid driver’s license.
The antiquarian of the bunch, Randall Berger, 64, who should have been the better example, got busted for suspicion of possession of a stolen motor vehicle; possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance, less than 14 grams, first offense; possession of 1 to 20 pounds of marijuana; and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rehnee Briggs, 40, the youngest, sits in the hoosgow on suspicion of possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance, less than 14 grams, first offense; possession of 1 to 20 pounds of marijuana; and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
Thus ended a road trip that began with half-baked confidence and concluded with official county lodging. It serves as a gentle reminder that if one is to tour the Comstock countryside, it is best to bring along a map, a lunch, and one’s own automobile.
