Men confess to stealing from a home store

Huy Tuan Nguyen, 35, and Vong Vang, 39, pleaded guilty to burglary of a business in connection with a theft from a hardware store in Jacks Valley

Two California men have pleaded guilty to burglary of a store for packing expensive items into a box containing a cheaper item.

Huy Tuan Nguyen, 35, and Vong Vang, 39, pleaded guilty on Tuesday and face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Vang was the driver while Nguyen went to Home Depot and, using fake labels, grabbed a $199 battery pack and a $189 nail gun and placed them in a box with a $40 label.

The men were arrested on May 22 with inventory price tags that could be used as substitutes for the store’s labels, as well as more than 30 receipts.

At a bail hearing shortly after her arrest, prosecutors said Vang had committed four felonies in the past decade. Nguyen is alleged to have committed a number of other crimes in the last year alone.

The verdict was scheduled for October 1.

• A man accused of robbing the COD Casino has a new lawyer.

Christopher Day has been assigned to represent Chase Aaron Henderson, who is charged with robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder in connection with the July 14, 2023 case.

Henderson and Andrew Toomey will appear in court with their attorneys on September 3 to set a new trial date. Both men deny the charges. Their trial, scheduled for September, was postponed after Henderson’s attorney died.

• A woman was allowed to appear in Veterans Court as a diversionary measure for possession of 22 grams of fentanyl and 14 grams of methamphetamine.

Kaela Mae Horse-Berreman, 35, appeared in district court on Tuesday after several delays. Horse-Berreman served in the U.S. Army artillery and eventually became addicted to opioids.

She and Anthony Gabriel Munoz, 28, were arrested on September 30, 2023, after she was seen stumbling into a car and was stopped for driving under the influence and failure to maintain lane.

Attorney Max Stovall said the drugs were intended for the couple’s personal use.

After his release, Munoz failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Horse-Berreman was the driver when Nicholas Berreman shot and killed Douglas County Sheriff’s Sergeant John Lenz in December 2020.

• A Lake Tahoe man who was extradited to Douglas County received a suspended sentence of 12 to 30 months after admitting to possession of methamphetamine.

District Judge Tod Young found that 39-year-old Dylan Russell Foote was so well known to law enforcement that he was easily recognized while getting into a car on February 23.

Foote must pay $151.17 in restitution to reimburse the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office for his pickup from California.