Woman sues Nevada agriculture officer over 2nd horse-feeding arrest

A 75-year-old Washoe County woman is alleging in a lawsuit that the Nevada Department of Agriculture and one of its officers attempted to have her prosecuted twice for same offense, despite prosecutors declining to move forward with the charge the first time.

The lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of Mary Ann Bruno accuses the department and officer Ian Knight of violating her civil rights, elder abuse and malicious prosecution.

The complaint alleges that Knight submitted a warrant under false pretenses for her arrest in 2025 for unlawfully feeding livestock despite arresting her for the same charge a few months prior. Court documents showed that prosecutors declined to pursue the original charge and dismissed the second attempt on double jeopardy grounds.

“Defendant Knight’s declaration deliberately or recklessly omitted material facts known personally to him, including: that he had arrested Ms. Bruno for the very conduct described in the declaration on the day it occurred; that she had been booked into jail on the very charge for which he sought the warrant; that the District Attorney’s Office had reviewed his investigation and declined to file that charge,” the lawsuit stated.

The Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Knight originally arrested Bruno on illegal feeding and failing to stop for a peace officer charges on Feb. 26, 2025, after witnessing her feeding a group of feral horses near Western Skies Drive in south Reno, court records showed.

However, prosecutors declined to move forward with the feeding charge on March 10, instead only proceeding with the traffic violation, which Bruno pleaded no contest to, the lawsuit stated.

Bruno’s attorneys contend in the legal complaint that Knight submitted a request for another warrant against their client for the same illegal feeding charge but omitted that he had previously arrested her and that prosecutors had declined to move forward with the charge.

Bruno was pulled over for a minor traffic violation in Lyon County on Sept. 1, 2025, and arrested on the warrant, court records show.

While prosecutors would amend the charge to a single misdemeanor count of resisting a public officer, the court dismissed the case because the prosecution amounted to double jeopardy since it involved the same incident, the lawsuit stated.

“As a direct and proximate result of defendant Knight’s conduct, Ms. Bruno suffered loss of liberty, out-of-pocket losses including bail fees, supervision costs, travel, and attorney’s fees, and substantial mental anguish, humiliation, and emotional distress, aggravated by her age and health,” the complaint said.