Truckee police arrest pair for alleged rental fraud at Lake Tahoe homes

Submitted by paula on Thu, 03/08/2018 - 1:05am

The Truckee Police Department was notified by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office on March 7, 2018 about a possible fraud that may have taken place in both communities.

A vacation home in Incline Village had been rented for a number of days by a couple using a fraudulent credit card issued by a foreign country. When the rental company returned to the home on Friday afternoon, they discovered major damage to the residence as well as the theft of thousands of dollars worth of electronics and other valuables. The homeowners had reported an approximate loss of $75,000 in theft and damages.

The rental company told law enforcement that another expensive home in Truckee had been rented by a couple using a credit card from the same foreign country.

On Wednesday March 7 at about 11:00 a.m., officers from the Truckee Police Department went to the residence located in the 12000 block of Rainbow Drive. The occupants in the residence refused to come out of the house for approximately one hour. The male occupant finally exited the house and he refused to speak to officers and refused to identify himself. After an extensive investigation, officers were able to arrest 29-year-old Fernley, Nevada resident Alexander Silviera for being under the influence of heroin.

Officers went into the home and located 21-year-old Haylay Brown of Mapleton, Oregon, inside the home and also under the influence of heroin. While in the home the officer recovered approximately $3,500 in stolen property which was returned to the owner.

Both subjects, Silviera from Nevada, and Brown from Oregon, have been charged with possessing stolen property, theft, providing false identification to a peace officer, and being under the influence of heroin.

Brown is currently in the Nevada County Jail on $10,000 bail and Silviera's bail is currently $15,000. More charges are pending in Washoe County for the Incline Village incident.

"Homeowners that decide to rent out their homes as vacation rentals should be aware of the possible risks and employ professional rental companies that are properly insured," said the Truckee Police Department in a release.