Window shooter pleads to one count

MINDEN - For shooting out the plate glass windows on numerous downtown Carson City businesses in February, a convicted arsonist pleaded guilty Monday to one gross misdemeanor.

"It was me, your honor," David Scott Killen told District Judge Michael Gibbons.

In exchange for his guilty plea to the gross misdemeanor, no other charges will be filed - including in Carson City - against Killen.

There were no injuries, but damage estimates ran into the thousands of dollars.

"The agreement appears to be extremely lenient for multiple incidents," Gibbons said.

The case was being prosecuted by Carson City Deputy District Attorney Kelly Werth because Killen had been represented as a juvenile by Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson when Jackson was in private practice.

Werth said there were "proof problems" in connecting Killen to all the incidents that were reported, but the prosecution believed he was the main perpetrator.

"We believe the plea agreement resolves the case in the best interest of the state," Werth said.

A passenger in Killen's vehicle, Dylan Patrick Gregory, 21, was not prosecuted.

"By the time of sentencing, we will have the number of victims in Carson City," he said. "We haven't figured up what their claims are."

Carson City District Attorney Neil Rombardo said Monday there were no eyewitnesses who could place the defendant or his vehicle in Carson City.

"The plea bargain is such a good deal for the people in Carson City because it allows them to still get restitution, which they wouldn't get if we prosecuted the case here," Rombardo said in an interview after the plea.

Firearms charges were dismissed because the weapon used - a BB gun or wrist rocket - doesn't constitute a a firearm, Rombardo said.

"He actually pleaded to exactly how he was charged," Rombardo said. He said there were nine victims in Carson City.

Gibbons told Werth to prepare the list "as soon as possible" for the state parole and probation department's sentencing recommendation.

The plea agreement calls for Killen to pay for damages.

His lawyer, Martin Wiener, referred to the incident as "a one-day spree of windows being broken."

"The charges - if factually connected - we will not contest," Wiener said.

"This will wrap up all potential charges including Carson City victims," Wiener said.

He asked that Killen be removed from house arrest so the $15-a-day fee could go toward restitution.

Gibbons encouraged Killen to bring money to his Dec. 10 sentencing after the defendant said he'd spent $2,400 on house arrest fees, but had not paid anything toward damages.

"The court agrees restitution is a top priority. For somebody out of custody not to have made an effort, it appears thin. You haven't done anything to accomplish that goal," Gibbons said.

Killen said he was working full-time and supporting his wife and 14-week-old son. He said he'd had no violations and paid all his fees.

He faces up to one year in Douglas County Jail, a $2,000 fine and restitution.

Killen told the judge that if he gets credit for time served - 78 days in the Douglas County Jail and 160 days on house arrest - and with good-time credit, he will have practically served his sentence.

More than two dozen windows were reported shot with a CO2-powered BB gun on Feb. 12.

Killen was arrested in Douglas County after a citizen's arrest complaint was filed by a 45-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos woman.

Her driver's side window was shot out while she was stopped at an intersection with her 14-year-old daughter in a minivan.

"My side window was shattered with glass falling all over me," she said in a statement to deputies.

In addition to the minivan, damage in Douglas County included two vehicles at Lake Tahoe, a window in East Fork Fire Department Station No. 1 and the RE/MAX Realty building at Waterloo and Highway 395.

Killen is also suspected of shooting at a Carson City Fire Department rig while it was being driven on Carson Street and shooting at a UPS truck as the driver sat in it in the parking lot of Grocery Outlet.

Killen was released from prison in August 2005 after serving a sentence for felony arson.