Neighbors hope DUI charge lands ‘terrorist’ in prison

INDIAN SPRINGS -- This town is a place with quiet streets and open spaces, where doors stay unlocked and parents let their children walk down the street to a friend's.

It is a place where everybody knows just about everybody else, good and bad.

It is also a place where one man's actions can draw a standing-room only crowd to a normally sleepy town board meeting and get him labeled a "community terrorist."

"When you have a small community, all it takes is one or two bad apples, even half of one, to really make it unpleasant," said one longtime resident, who didn't want his name used for fear of reprisal.

The man he's talking about is Roger Shawn Atchley, a 40-year-old known for drinking and burning rubber through this town of 1,700 residents off U.S. Highway 95, about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

During the past two years, neighbors say they've had to put up with vandalism, loud parties, threats and reckless driving. One resident accused Atchley of sending a pair of dogs to attack his chickens. Some parents are so worried about his driving that they refuse to let their children walk home after dark.

"It's a small town with a big problem," said one neighbor, who wished to remain nameless.

Take a town board meeting last fall. A typical meeting might have 10 residents in the audience, but when Atchley was the topic, about 50 people crammed the meeting room, the neighbor said.

Las Vegas police, who patrol this remote collection of double-wides, rough roads and solitude, have also taken notice. They've been called to his house more than 20 times since 2008 and arrested Atchley at least four times in that span, including twice on drunken driving charges.

Police are also pursuing a chronic nuisance complaint against the landowner, who refused to evict his tenant despite the numerous disturbances at the property.

"It's hard to believe one person can disrupt an entire community," said Sgt. Eric Fricker, who oversees patrols at Indian Springs and Mount Charleston. "This is something the community has to win. It can't lose."

Atchley and his supporters blame his troubles on a conspiracy between police and a small group of neighbors who have it out for him.

"They decided that I make too much noise and drive fast," Atchley said.

Landowner Lynn Thiriot called it a "witch hunt" against Atchley, whom he's known for about six years.

"Shawn is not a perfect citizen, don't get me wrong, but he's not any worse than 85 percent of the people over there," Thiriot said.

Neighbor Peggy Oliver, an 18-year Indian Springs resident who lives directly across the street from Atchley, said he can get obnoxious when he's drunk, and she's almost been hit twice by his speeding truck. Yet she said many of the complaints against him are overblown.

"He's Shawn. He can be good, he can be bad, just like anybody else," said Oliver, whose son is friends with one of Atchley's sons.

Not if you ask Joe Archer, who lives three houses down from Atchley.

"This guy just torments the community," he said.

Archer and his family have been in the middle of a long-running feud with Atchley and his family that was sparked by "the fight" between them in April 2008.

Archer, angry at another truck squealing past his house, had walked up the road to say something to the driver, a friend of Atchley's. A fistfight broke out between Archer and Atchley, and both men pressed charges.

Since then Archer's garage has been spray painted with obscenities, and broken bottles and burning wood have been tossed into his yard, he said. And the peel-outs and speeding have continued.

Archer tried to get a restraining order against Atchley and his family in September 2008, saying they were threatening and stalking his family, according to court documents. The request was denied.

The bad blood continued to simmer, coming to a head in October when two dogs attacked the Archers' pet chickens in their yard, killing one.

Susan Archer, who was home with the couple's 12-year-old son, helped Atchley corral the dogs. He told her it was an accident, and she believed him -- until watching the surveillance video, she said.

The grainy footage shows a man walk to the front gate, open it and walk away. An hour later two dogs charge in and attack the chickens.

The video was enough to get animal cruelty charges filed against Atchley. Those charges are pending.

Atchley denies involvement.

"All of a sudden I'm a chicken killer?" he said.

After the chicken incident, Joe Archer again sought a restraining order and was again denied by a Las Vegas judge.

Atchley might have avoided the restraining order, but he has a bigger fight coming soon -- a fight for freedom.

Already with drunken driving convictions in 2004 and 2006, he now faces a felony drunken driving charge after two more arrests last year.

If he is convicted on the felony, Atchley could face one to six years in prison. He could also be eligible for the serious offender diversion program which would keep him out of lockup.

More than 100 residents have signed a petition that will ask the judge to sentence him to prison because of his "blatant disregard for human life and the law by terrorizing the community of Indian Springs."

"He needs to be taught that the law is the law, and that life and property are more valuable than he thinks," said neighbor Andrew Fillioe, who won't let his stepchildren walk home after dark.

The petition was drafted with the help of Stop DUI Executive Director Sandy Heverly, who has called Atchley a "community terrorist."

"Between now and then we're just praying that no one is killed or injured because of his reckless behavior," Heverly said.

But not everyone thinks he's such a terror.

At The Bar at Indian Springs in the middle of town, the mention of Atchley's name triggers eye rolls by a few of the patrons. But a young woman named Melissa, who wouldn't give her last name, defended the man she's served drinks to for five years.

When he drinks he can get obnoxious, throw bar stools, jump on tables and get himself banned from the property for a while, but he's still likable, she said.

"It's not like he killed somebody," she said. "He's not a bad guy."

Two trailers up the street from Atchley's place, Rodney David Bradley sat on his porch and defended his neighbor, saying he's never been bothered by loud parties, noise or reckless driving in his four years there.

He chalked up the troubles to a group of longtime residents who are trying to chase out hardworking people who aren't like them.

"In this town, I'm going to tell you, if you don't fit into their little scenario, they're going to run you out of town one way or another," he said.

Yet many residents have grown frustrated by Atchley's actions and the lack of action by the court system. When he does get arrested, he's back in town shortly thereafter. When they call police, an officer might not show up for two to three hours, far too long to take any action or make any arrests.

Many residents are hoping the fourth drunken driving case will be his last, that he'll get prison time and maybe get help.

If he hurts someone before then, the frustrated populace of Indian Springs might take the law into its own hands.

"I think it's only a matter of time before somebody's going to get hurt and vigilante law is going to take effect," Fillioe said. "People aren't going to wait for the law anymore."

Contact reporter Brian Haynes
at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.