Man back in jail after extending furlough

A Carson City man was back in custody Monday after more than two weeks on the lam following a 72-hour furlough granted by the sheriff.

Steven Chan, 29, was arrested by Washoe County sheriff's deputies at 1:57 a.m. Sunday in Washoe Valley and was booked into the Carson City Jail on a felony charge of unauthorized absence. He was serving 150 days in jail for violating probation on a drug charge when he was given a furlough by Sheriff Kenny Furlong on Aug. 27 to attend the birth of his child.

On Monday, Furlong said, Chan was captured during a traffic stop by Washoe County deputies on Washoe Hill. Chan was a passenger in the vehicle.

"They called us to say a gentlemen in the vehicle was claiming to be a specific person - an alias that Chan is known to use," Furlong said.

He was arrested without incident and taken to the county line on Lakeview Hill, where Carson City deputies took him into custody.

Furlong said Chan's disappearance has made him rethink the furlough policy at the jail.

"We extended him a courtesy and I got burned on this one," the sheriff said. "I would hate to not consider furloughs for people to attend significant life events, but since his escape we have received requests for other furloughs and they have been uniformly turned down."

n Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.