August 12, 2026

Police standoff results in arrest of suspect

The man identified as William Jorgensen holed up in a complex on Fourth Street near Galletti Way. The intersection was blocked off at midafternoon

The building was evacuated and tear gas was fired into three units just before 5 p.m. after attempts to negotiate by telephone failed. Jorgensen was found hiding under a blanket by an ice machine. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being booked in the Washoe County jail.

A search has been underway since Sunday, when a man and an accomplice allegedly kidnapped a couple from a Sparks park.

They threw the man out of the car, then drove out Interstate-80 to a spot about 10 miles east of Reno where the woman was sexually assaulted.

Officers came on the scene as the attack was taking place and the man fled. Police confirmed on Wednesday that he was injured as he fled, but could not confirm whether he was shot or if he hurt himself some other way.

There's no word on the whereabouts of the second man or the status of that search.

"One down, one to go," Sparks Police Chief John Dotson said.

As many as 50 law enforcement officers, police dogs, SWAT teams and two police helicopters spent late Sunday and early Monday combing the Mustang-Lockwood area near the Truckee River.

More than 500 homes were searched and all vehicles leaving the area were stopped at police roadblocks.

The two men allegedly kidnapped a 21-year-old man and his 18-year-old girlfriend from Pah Rah Park in northeast Sparks Sunday afternoon.

The suspects dumped the man out as they drove down Vista Boulevard toward I-80 in Sparks and he telephoned police.

The woman escaped when the Sparks police officer came upon the car during the alleged sexual assault near Lockwood.

archive