Elko County Sheriff's Office

09/29/2026

Traffic stop leads to felony arrest

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (775) 738-3421
Email: [email protected]
Date: September 29, 2026

TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO FELONY ARREST

Elko, Nevada – On September 27, 2026, Elko County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a traffic stop in the area of 775 W. Silver Street after identifying a vehicle that displayed a suspended Nevada license plate.
The male driver, identified as 21-year-old, was also found to be driving with a suspended driver’s license. A single female passenger was in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop and was identified as a 15-year-old child. When the child's parent arrived at the scene of the traffic stop, it was learned the child had been engaging in a sexual relationship with the male driver.
The male driver was interviewed by Elko County Sheriff’s Office detectives and provided a confession related to multiple recent sexual encounters with the child.

The driver of the vehicle was identified as Aaron Kienenberger, and he was booked into the Elko County Jail on the following charges:

NRS 200.368 – Statutory S*xual Seduction

NRS 201.110 – Contributory Delinquency
NRS 483.560 – Driving While License Suspended
NRS 482.456 – Operating a Motor Vehicle with Suspended Registration

All individuals should be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

09/26/2026

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office would like to send a huge Thank You to Dylan’s Legacy and Candice Cooley for sponsoring and bringing Badge Apps training to Elko, Nevada. On September 23 and 24, 2026, detectives from the Elko County Sheriff’s Office and White Pine County Sheriff’s Office were provided with training on how to obtain and map location data and investigate IP, App and internet investigations. While attending class, detectives identified several training topics covered in class that could be used to help solve current investigations. Detectives also provided feedback that this training will be vital for current and future investigations and will help solve investigations.

Again, we would like to say Thank You to Candice Cooley and Aaron Benzick (instructor) for making this training happen!!

09/24/2026

Plane crash in Spring Creek

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames
e-mail: [email protected]
On September 24, 2026, at approximately 0958 hours, deputies responded to the area of State Route 228 and State Route 227 for a plane crash. A witness had reported seeing a small single engine plane crash approximately 300-500 yards north of State Route 228 and approximately 500 yards west of State Route 227.
Upon deputies arrival, they located the plane at coordinates, 40.78157 N, 115.68475 W. The pilot, John Rice told deputies that for the past several days he had been doing test flights on the plane around the City of Elko Airport. Today he took the flight further into the Spring Creek area when he lost power to the engine and began to descend. Rice attempted to land on State Route 228, however there were too many vehicles to safely land on the highway.
Rice then attempted to land in a large field near the highway. After touching down and rolling on his wheels for approximately 50 feet, Rice hit a small ditch causing his front wheel and the front of his plane to dig into the ground and come to a stop. Rice was the only person on board and received minor injuries. The FAA was notified of the incident.
Rice did an excellent job of choosing the safest place to land the plane where there was not a secondary collision with a vehicle, or any significant injuries to himself.

09/22/2026

Vehicle pursuit

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (775) 738-3421
Email: [email protected]
Date: September 22, 2026

Vehicle Pursuit

Elko, Nevada - On September 20, 2026, at approximately 04:04 hours, Elko County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to State Route 227 near mile marker 5 for a reported vehicle parked in the southbound travel lane facing northbound.

Upon arrival, deputies located an adult male inside the vehicle who appeared to be unconscious. Deputies were able to wake the male and observed signs of impairment. The male refused multiple requests to exit the vehicle and declined to provide identification.

After deputies gave the male multiple verbal commands and attempted to safely remove the driver from the vehicle, the driver accelerated away, resulting in a vehicle pursuit.

During the pursuit, deputies deployed tire deflation devices known as “Stop Sticks” and were able to disable the vehicle by deflating its tires. The vehicle eventually came to a stop on Interstate 80 eastbound near mile marker 300, where the male barricaded himself inside the vehicle.

Following a brief negotiation, the male surrendered peacefully and was taken into custody without further incident. He was transported to the Elko County Detention Center.

The driver of the vehicle, Sean Nordwig was arrested on the following charges:

NRS 453.335 – Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Substance
NRS 484B.550 – Stop Required Upon Signal
NRS 484B.653 – Reckless Driving Disregard to Persons and Property
NRS 484C.110 – Driving Under the Influence
NRS 199.280 – Resisting a Public Officer

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Elko Police Department, Nevada State Police, Elko EMS, and Elko Regional Communication Center for their assistance and cooperation during this incident.

09/16/2026

Scam calls & fraud

Ongoing scam calls/fraud

September 16, 2026

This is a public service announcement regarding ongoing scam calls. One of the scams we have been dealing with for a few years involves people calling and claiming to be law enforcement. The caller will tell you that you have a warrant for your arrest, and the caller will claim you missed court or fail to show for a jury summons. These calls can show up on caller ID as the Sheriff's Office as they are cloning our number. If this is the case, hang up the phone and call the Sheriff's Office to ensure that it is fraud. These people are very convincing and will often have a police radio playing in the background.

The Elko County Sheriff's Office will never call you and ask you to deposit cash in any way to clear up a warrant. If you do have a warrant it needs to be cleared at Elko County Jail or by the courts. Please do not deposit any cash no matter how pushy these people get! Again, we do not clear warrants this way and they are always scamming you if that is the request. If you believe that you are being scammed, simply hang up the phone and call the Sheriff's Office to clear up any misunderstandings.

Please share this message and tell your friends and family not to fall for this scam. Deputies do frequently call the public to address legitimate law enforcement business, and we will leave a message to call us back at the office or on our cell phones. Our office number is 775-738-3421. Our front office staff can assist you with clearing up any confusion by connecting you with the correct deputy or administrator.

There are many other scams where people are asking for money for many different reasons. There are too many to list. Please do not give money to anyone unless you are 100% sure you owe it to them. If they ask to pay in bitcoin, it is a scam!

Lieutenant Doug Fisher

09/16/2026

Drug arrest

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (775) 738-3421
Email: [email protected]
Date: September 16, 2026

Drug Arrest

Elko, Nevada – On September 14, 2026, an Elko County Sheriff’s Office deputy noticed a vehicle traveling northbound on 5th Street without proper nighttime lighting.

The driver of the vehicle was identified as Pedro Rivera-Cortes of Spring Creek. The vehicle displayed a fictitious license plate that came back to another vehicle and Rivera-Cortes had a suspended driver’s license.

During the inventory of the vehicle, deputies located seven baggies of white crystalline substance, which was later identified as methamphetamines. The weight of the methamphetamines was approximately 4 ounces.

Pedro River-Cortes was arrested on the following charges:

NRS 453.3386 – Trafficking more than 100 grams of a Schedule I Controlled Substance
NRS 482.545 – Driving an Unregistered Vehicle
NRS 484D.230 – Operating and Unsafe Motor Vehicle
NRS 483.560 – Suspended Driver’s License

09/10/2026

S*x assault arrest

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (775) 738-3421
Email: [email protected]
Date: September 10, 2026

On Thursday, August 27. 2026, the Elko County Sheriff’s Office received a report of child sexual assault which occurred in Elko County in 2016. The victim disclosed that at seven (7) years old they were sexually assaulted by, Thomas Connor Moore, who was at the time eighteen (18) years old. Pursuant to Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 171.085 Limitations for Felonies, an immediate criminal investigation was initiated.

On Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Thomas Moore was interviewed by the Elko County Sheriff’s Office – Detective Division and provided a detailed confession of his sexual assault. Thomas Connor Moore was arrested and lodged at the Elko County Jail for S*xual Assault of a Child Under 14 (NRS 200.366(1)(b)).

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office considers this an ongoing criminal investigation with no threat to the community.

If you have any information related to this investigation, please contact:

Elko County Sheriff’s Office – Detective Division
Detective Brian Boatman or Detective Sergeant Crystal Cox
Office: (775) 738-3421 or Non-Emergency Dispatch: (775) 777-7300

09/10/2026

Summer Special Events - Joining Forces

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (775) 738-3421
Email: [email protected]
Date: September 6, 2026

Summer Special Events – Joining Forces

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office and Elko County Juvenile Probation joined forces throughout the 2026 summer special events. These events included the Silver State Stampede Rodeo, Elko County Fair and concerts hosted at the Elko County Fairgrounds.

Our goal of joining forces was to enhance overall safety for the citizens that attend these events and address issues stemming from underage drinking, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of fictitious identification cards and violations of juvenile probation conditions.

At each of the summer events, Juvenile Probation Officers, PACE Coalition identification check station staff and deputies identified multiple juveniles attempting to use fictitious identification cards to obtain wrist bands which would indicate the person was over 21 years of age and allow the subject to purchase alcoholic beverages. The fictitious identification cards were confiscated and prevented underage drinkers from making additional poor decisions.

When it was determined a juvenile had been consuming alcohol, the juvenile was released to their parent or guardian.

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office would like to say thanks to our partner agencies for joining forces and making each event safer for our community.

Elko County Juvenile Probation
PACE Coalition

09/03/2026

09/01/2026

Wells discharge of a fi***rm and theft

Contact: Undersheriff Justin Ames FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (775) 738-3421
Email: [email protected]
Date: September 1, 2026

Wells, Nevada — On 08/31/2026 at approximately 01:01 hours, the Elko County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a verbal altercation, and a fi***rm was discharged near the Golden Gate fuel station in Wells, Nevada. The initial reporting person alleged a male subject shot a fi***rm in their direction.

Two subjects involved in the incident subsequently left the area and traveled to the Flying J. It was then reported that a person witnessed two subjects stealing four cases of b**r. The two male subjects fled from the Flying J in a white pickup towing a trailer with a silver pickup on the trailer.

Based upon suspect and vehicle descriptions, deputies were able to determine that the initial verbal altercation and discharge of a fi***rm were related to the theft of alcohol at the Fling J.

Deputies, with assistance from the Nevada Highway Patrol, located and intercepted the vehicle on Interstate 80 near mile marker 315. The occupants were identified as Hayden Young and Atticus Kallsen.

Young was arrested on charges including DUI, three counts of Discharging a Fi***rm, two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Petit Larceny, and Hit and Run.

Kallsen was arrested on charges of Minor in Possession of Alcohol and Petit Larceny.

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Nevada Highway Patrol for their assistance in safely resolving this incident.