Carson City Sheriff’s Office deputies apprehended a man who was naked and smashing in car windows near the 700 block of Silver Oak Drive on Sunday.
Deputies responded to reports at 5:09 p.m., of a man smashing car windows with a pick axe at an apartment complex. Upon arrival, deputies contacted the man who still was wielding the axe. It was determined that the man had a severe mental illness and his case worker was dispatched to the scene to instruct deputies how to placate the man. After attempts to calm the man, deputies were forced to shoot the man with a Taser.
The man was not arrested and instead taken to a mental health facility by Carson City Fire Department. Sheriff Ken Furlong said that they did not take the man to jail because he was in need of mental health treatment.
“Court, especially mental health court is something that is supposed to be used when jail time will help a person ... but I don’t think putting him away will give him the help he needs.”
Furlong said that the man did have a history of semi-violence while in a mental facility, and he had items that could have been weaponized, including a sword and an Airsoft gun in his apartment, which deputies confiscated. The man appeared to have been off his medication for about two days, with his mental health degrading.
“I am pleased with the response,” Furlong said. “My deputies stayed away from the gun, even with a naked man standing in front of them with a pick axe, which is extremely dangerous.”
Only two vehicles were damaged, and both owners said they never met the man before the incident.