Man accused of stealing construction vehicle in Henderson gets public defender

A man accused of stealing a construction vehicle from a worksite in Henderson and ramming it into two police SUVs earlier this month was appointed a public defender on Tuesday.

Juan Carreno, 33, appeared over video call on Tuesday before Henderson Justice of the Peace Stephen George and was arraigned on charges of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, resisting a public officer, destroying or injuring real personal property and grand larceny of a motor vehicle.

The hearing lasted less than ten minutes. Carreno told George that he understood the charges he faces, though he tried to rebuff the allegations and at times spoke over George. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Jan. 26.

“Don’t tell me anything about the offense, just if you understand those are the charges stated,” the judge told Carreno, who was attempting to call the allegations against him false.

George went on to ask Carreno, who appeared alone in handcuffs, a blue jumpsuit and orange shoes over video call, if he had hired an attorney before appointing a public defender to represent Carreno moving forward.

Bail in Carreno’s case has not yet been set and Hanna Bleak, the public defender at Tuesday’s hearing, asked to continue Carreno’s bail argument to a later date.

Carreno was arrested and booked into the Henderson Detention Center on Jan. 4 following the shooting but is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, according to online jail records.

At a briefing last week, Henderson Police Department Deputy Chief Matthew Murnane identified Carreno as Juan Rincon Carreno, but George on Tuesday appeared to accept a request from Carreno to strike the Rincon name from his case file. Carreno had asked George to remove the surname after he was presented with his criminal complaint.

Carreno’s arrest stems from a Jan. 4 encounter with Henderson police in the 600 block of North Water Street that resulted in Carreno being shot by officers in the elbow, lower left leg and on the side of the head, according to his arrest report. The two officers involved, Sgt. Lance Jaworski and Officer Megan Jacobs, were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting, Murnane said.

Murnane said during last week’s briefing that officers were called to the area after receiving reports of a man later identified as Carreno who was seen jumping a fence into a private construction site and then used a screwdriver to start a 2007 Kawasaki front loader.

Jacobs arrived on scene first and began shooting at Carreno after he ignored her commands and began advancing toward her in the 39,000-pound construction vehicle, Murnane said. Jaworski arrived a short time later and began firing after Carreno rammed his and Jacobs’ SUVs with the front loader.

The front loader got stuck on the police SUVs, and Carreno was arrested after officers wrestled him out of the vehicle, Murnane said. Carreno and the officers fell seven feet out of the front loader and were taken to nearby hospitals each with injuries that were not life-threatening, Murnane said.