BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal A crime lab investigator works the scene at 1515 Fall St. where Carson City Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Stagliano was shot during a drug investigation early Thursday morning. Pictured at the top of the window is a (flare) fired by the S.W.A.T. that failed to enter the residence.
Charges of attempted murder are expected to be filed against a Carson City man who allegedly opened fire on officers, one of whom was hit, while they were serving a search warrant at his Fall Street home.
Mark Daniel Fiddler, 50, is being held in the Carson City Jail on a $75,000 bail.
According to Carson City Sheriff's Sgt. Darrin Sloan, commander of the Special Enforcement Team, officers, armed with a search warrant, had been watching the home at 1515 Fall St. since 7 p.m. Wednesday.
After watching "suspicious" foot and vehicle traffic for eight hours, officers decided to execute the warrant.
Sloan said team members knocked and announced their intention about 2:55 a.m. Twenty minutes later, when they'd received no response from inside, nine officers began to enter the home using a battering ram, while two others watched the rear.
As Deputy Josh Stagliano made his way up a hallway, Fiddler allegedly emerged from a bedroom and opened fire with a .22-caliber rifle, striking Stagliano in the wrist. Officers returned fire, but Fiddler was not hit. Sloan said deputies immediately retreated from the home and the three people in the home surrendered within 10 minutes.
Lillian Kay Meyer, 42, is being held on suspicion of trafficking. She was the subject of the search warrant, and is suspected of selling methamphetamine to an informant. A 25-year-old man also inside the home was interviewed and released.
The SWAT team was called out, and after firing a tear gas canister into the home they determined no one else remained inside. Two dogs and three cats were taken into custody by Carson City Animal Control.
Stagliano was driven to the hospital by a deputy where he underwent surgery about 6 a.m. on his wrist.
"He's lucky, and we're glad for that," said Undersheriff Steve Albertsen.
He may be on medical leave for some time, said Sheriff Kenny Furlong. Stagliano, a married father of three, and a 1998 Carson High School graduate, has been with the department since 2001.
Investigators from the Nevada Department of Public Safety, with assistance from the Washoe County Crime Lab, are handling the criminal investigation in regard to the shooting.
They spent Thursday inside the home and removed numerous bags of evidence.
After the shooting investigation was completed, Carson City special enforcement officers were able to enter the home to conduct the drug warrant.
Sloan said it's unlikely any drugs will be recovered since the occupants had 20 minutes before officers entered.
"They probably flushed everything," he said.
He said there is no doubt in his mind, Fiddler knew the people entering were police.
"The younger guy even made the comment it was loud and clear that we were police," he said.
According to Carson City Assessor records 1515 N. Fall St. is owned by the Joan Fiddler Living Trust.
Since Jan. 1, the Special Enforcement Team has served about a half dozen warrants and made more than a dozen arrests in the department's efforts to combat methamphetamine.
"It's really unfortunate it had to come to this," said Mayor Marv Teixeira. "There's a war going on."
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.
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