Lovett appears in Justice Court

A Fallon man accused of shooting a woman appeared Thursday in Justice Court.

Justin James Lovett, 32, told Justice of the Peace Mike Richards he did not know if he could hire an attorney. Lovett is charged with five felonies — four of which stem from the alleged Sept. 13 incident.

Richards said if Lovett cannot hire an attorney by Tuesday, a public defender will be appointed. Lovett was scheduled for a status hearing on Thursday and his preliminary is slated for Oct. 10.

He is charged with one count each of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily harm, battery constituting domestic violence, ex-felon not to possess a firearm and trafficking in a controlled substance, 28 grams or more.

The trafficking charge, though, stems from an unrelated case, which was initiated by the Fallon Police Department and investigated by the North Central Narcotics Task Force, Fallon police Capt. Vern Ulrich said.

On Sept. 13 at about 1:50 p.m., FPD received a call indicating that a shooting had occurred at the Overland Hotel. Officers arrived to find Holly Wilcox, 30, of Fallon, had a gunshot wound to her arm. Wilcox was transported to Banner Churchill Community Hospital for treatment and released.

Lovett was on the run after the suspected shooting and was nabbed by Reno police on Sunday while walking down the street, according to Ulrich.

Lovett was booked into the Washoe County Jail on misdemeanor charges of use or possession of drug paraphernalia and false statement to obstruct a public officer. According to Ulrich, Lovett denied his identity and made false statements to RPD officers.

Lovettt is being held in the Churchill County Jail on $156,000 bond. He faces life in prison for the trafficking charge and at least 16 years for the other charges.

In other court news —

Raymond King appeared Thursday in Justice Court on 17 felony charges from an alleged robbery on Nov. 30, 2012.

King is charged with eight counts of grand larceny of a firearm, eight counts of an ex-felon not to possess a firearm and one count of burglary with a deadly weapon or a firearm.

According to the criminal complaint, King and codefendants Stephen Charles Cheek and Jessica Nunes entered David Barkley’s residence on Old River Road and stole eight firearms.

The haul included an AR-15 assault rifle, a Weatherby 300, a Remington 30-06, a Marlin 30-30, a Winchester 20-gauge, single-shot shotgun, a Winchester 12-gauge pump shotgun, a 30-80 rifle and a .22-caliber rifle.

King was previously convicted of felony grand larceny of a firearm and burglary with a deadly weapon.

He has been in prison since Feb. 14 for a previous offense, while Cheek has pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges — one burglary with possession of a firearm and eight counts of grand larceny of a firearm — and is scheduled for trial April 7, 2014.

The burglary charge for both King and Cheek carry a sentence of two to 15 years in prison for each and one to 10 years for each grand larceny count. The ex-felon charge for King carries a sentence of one to six years.