A man was arrested Tuesday night in Fernley on multiple felony charges including kidnapping, child abuse, and battery, while three children being held by him were rescued from a crawl space at a residence on Johnson Lane.
Earlier in the evening, the children had been at a park near Cory Way when they were approached by a man identified as Guillermo Aboytes Saavedra.
One of the boys reported that Saavedra came toward them “with his fists balled up,” asked one juvenile “why he thinks he is so tough,” and stated that he was “a member of the Cartel.”
The boy further stated that Saavedra slapped him and said “he was not scared of jail and that if he went to jail, he was going to kill them.”
Saavedra then instructed the boys to accompany him and “act normal and not look at any cars” as he led them down an alley and into the backyard of a nearby home.
According to statements, Saavedra took one of the boys' phones, forced him to delete its contents, and used the device to record the boys while physically assaulting them.
The boys were then forced into a crawl space under the home, where they were repeatedly removed and beaten.
At approximately 6:17 PM, the sister of one of the boys contacted dispatch, reporting that her brother had received a threatening message.
She was actively searching for him and worked with deputies to track the location of his phone.
Around the same time, dispatch began receiving calls from the brother’s phone, during which he stated he was in a basement with two other children and that the suspect had beaten them.
At 6:55 PM, deputies arrived at the home where the phone had last pinged and detained Saavedra.
One minute later, they located the children in the crawl space beneath the house.
Two of the children had suffered substantial injuries, reportedly from being beaten with wooden tools.
All three children were transported to the hospital and provided medical treatment and reunited with their families.
Saavedra was booked into the Lyon County Jail on charges including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, two counts of kidnapping with substantial bodily harm, false imprisonment, two counts of false imprisonment resulting in substantial bodily harm, three counts of child abuse, and two counts of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm.
His initial bail was set at $972,500.
No further information is being released at this time.
