Lyon County Man Charged with Threatening to Run Over School District Employee

A man was arrested Monday on an assault charge related to an incident that happened Sept. 5 at Fernley Intermediate School.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said 47-year-old Mark Soto was arrested by the School Resource Officer after a second altercation on Monday.

The Sheriff’s Office says the man was involved in an altercation at the school on Sept. 5. They say Soto threatened a school district employee who was assigned to monitor parking lot traffic. The employee stopped traffic to allow school buses to pass through a congested area. LCSO charges that Soto, who was waiting in his vehicle, started to yell at the staff member and threatened to run the employee over. The Sheriff’s Office said Soto’s vehicle nearly struck the staff member when he quickly drove away.

Deputies later tried to locate Soto but were unsuccessful.

On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office said Soto was in a conference room with school administrators when he became angry and another confrontation occurred. One of the School Resource Officers assigned to Fernley tried to talk to Soto, but the Sheriff’s Office says Soto refused to identify himself and became argumentative and combative when the deputy tried to detain him. During a subsequent altercation, the deputy used his Taser to subdue and arrest Soto. LCSO said the SRO sustained minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital for evaluation.

Although no students were present when the altercation took place, the school was placed on a short lockdown while deputies responded and arrested Soto. Once he was in custody the lockdown was lifted and the school resumed normal operations.

Soto was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a protected person (school employee), resisting arrest and disturbance of school. His bail was set at $26,780.