Police question inmate about threats against Carson City judge

CARSON CITY — Investigators may have gotten the break they were looking for in their four-year search for a suspect behind a series of threats against a Carson City judge.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong says deputies received a tip earlier this week that a Washoe County jail inmate may have been involved with the threats made against Judge John Tatro beginning in 2012.

Furlong says deputies transported 74-year-old John Ashton to the sheriff’s office and questioned him on Wednesday. They subsequently served a search warrant on a storage locker in Sparks and found a vehicle similar to one they had been seeking in connection with the case.

Furlong said Friday no arrests have been made. But he says they hope to collect DNA samples to see if they match DNA on an envelope mailed to the judge’s residence last year.