Trucker charged with bilking brothel

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2000 | 4:26 a.m.

Richard Barton Morse, 36, was booked into the Churchill County Jail on Monday. He suffered an apparent heart attack the next day and was flown to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, where he was listed in fair condition.

An assistant manager at the Salt Wells Brothel said Morse, of Sedona, was on a trip to Colorado when he made a pit stop at the bordello in rural Churchill County east of Reno.

The woman, who asked that her name not be used, told the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard that Morse drank and "had different parties with different girls" for 18 to 20 hours.

She said Morse tried to pay his bill with a Comchek - a voucher frequently used by truckers to pay expenses on the road - but the authorization number he put down turned out to bogus.

Morse allegedly told the manager he would check out the problem using his computer in his big-rig. Moments later, they heard his truck start up.

Two of the prostitutes followed the rig to get the license plate number, then passed it on to deputies.

Sheriff Bill Lawry said deputies spotted the rig traveling east on U.S. 50 and weaving over the center line.

Two preliminary breath tests showed his blood-alcohol level at .04 and .05 percent, enough for a commercial driver in Nevada to be charged with driving under the influence, Lawry said.

Morse was also charged with defrauding a business establishment, a felony because the amount exceeded $250.