Man Arrested After Vehicle Burglary and Knife Threat

Tom Darby

A 33-year-old Carson City man was arrested on New Year’s Eve night after a reported vehicle burglary escalated into a confrontation involving a knife, according to the Carson City Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were dispatched just after 9 p.m. to the Ladera Drive area following a report of a burglary of a motor vehicle. A witness told deputies she walked outside and saw a man inside a family member’s truck. At first, she believed it was her relative, but when she called out to them, the man began walking away.

The witness said her husband confronted the suspect and grabbed him, at which point the suspect pulled out a knife. During the encounter, the suspect dropped a bottle of vodka, picked it back up, and continued walking away.

Dispatch broadcast a description of the suspect as a white male with a beard wearing a blue jacket and blue jeans. An arresting deputy later spotted a man matching that description, identified as John Michael Patchell, walking south on Airport Road. The deputy briefly lost sight of him after he turned onto a walking path, but Patchell was located after a short pursuit and taken into custody without further incident.

During a pat-down search, deputies found a knife in Patchell’s front pants pocket along with the bottle of vodka. Additional knives were later discovered, including one that was open in his pocket.

Patchell agreed to a preliminary breath test, which showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.259. Due to his level of intoxication, jail staff requested medical clearance and removed him to a hospital before being returned to custody.

Patchell was booked into jail on felony charges of burglary of a motor vehicle, battery with a deadly weapon, and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon.