Men to plead in restaurant stabbing

In the middle of a preliminary hearing Tuesday, two Carson City men accepted a plea deal in the stabbing of a fast food worker last month.

District Attorney Neil Rombardo said Christopher Piche, 18, and Irvin Garcia, 18, have agreed to plead to assault with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement.

"The deal was negotiated in such a manner that both defendants must take it or the deal would fall apart," Rombardo said. Assault with a deadly weapon carries a penalty of one to six years in prison. The gang enhancement doubles that penalty. If they go through the agreement in District Court on May 20, the two will serve at least 2 to 12 years in prison.

On March 17, suspected gang members Piche and Garcia jumped the counter at the Jack in the Box near Wal-Mart in north Carson City about 9 p.m. to assault a worker they believed was a member of a rival gang, according to police documents.

Carson City Sheriff's Lt. Bob White said the employee was able to fend off the assault and suffered a minor stab wound to his torso. The victim does not appear to be affiliated with a gang, said White.

Later that night, Piche and Garcia went to a local casino and called out a derogatory name for another suspected rival gang member who worked there, White said.

Surveillance at the casino was used to identify Piche and Garcia as the two who assaulted the Jack in the Box employee.

They were arrested in Las Vegas on March 31 and brought back to Carson City on April 2.

Both Piche and Garcia are documented gang members with the Carson City Sheriff's Department and are known to law enforcement, said White.

In August 2006, when Piche was 16, he survived a shooting in which he was struck in face by a bullet following what police characterized as a "running gun battle" on August Drive.

Piche was among a group of people allegedly called outside to confront a car of rival gang members when someone inside the rival vehicle opened fire, striking Piche just to the right of his nose. The bullet remains lodged in his neck, White said.

Piche allegedly refused to cooperate with investigators in his shooting and no arrest was made.

Piche was also identified by investigators as a person of interest in a 2006 Halloween party gang shooting in the Northridge subdivision that left one man dead and another injured. No arrest was made in that case either, White said.

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