Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Ex-Nevada deputy among suspects in casino takeover

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 | 5:27 p.m.

RENO — A former sheriff's deputy is among three Nevada men considered potentially dangerous suspects in the armed takeover of a tribal casino in central California last month, federal agents said Tuesday.

The ex-Douglas County deputy, Brian Auchenbach Jr., 38, of Gardnerville, and two Sparks men, Timothy Tofaute, 46, and David Dixon, 35, are wanted on warrants for kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and other charges, the U.S. Marshal's Northern Nevada Office said.

All three have extensive experience in the military, private security and firearms testing, the marshal's fugitive task force said in a statement appealing for the public's help in locating them.

Tofaute is a former Navy Seal. Auchenbach was a U.S. Marine before becoming a deputy.

"Due to the subjects' background, as well as the nature of the charges, they should be considered armed and dangerous," Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Alexander said.

The (Gardnerville) Record-Courier reported Douglas County sheriff's deputies and U.S. marshals closed off a road while searching for Auchenbach on Friday morning in the Gardnerville Ranchos west of U.S. Highway 395. The marshal's office asked anyone with information to contact them at 775-686-5780.

The three Nevadans' names were included on a list — but not identified in detail — when prosecutors in California announced earlier this month that they had filed charges against 15 people in connection with the takeover at the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino northeast of Fresno.

More than a dozen people stormed the casino Oct. 9 with weapons, sending hundreds of gamblers running with chips still on the tables. Nobody was seriously hurt. Authorities say it's part of a dispute between rival factions of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians vying for its control.

The group's leader, Tex McDonald, 64, surrendered Nov. 3 to the Madera County Sheriff's Office along with three other suspects. A fourth was arrested, but several others remain at large.

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