The arrest

Read part 1.

Joseph and Kera Turner, who escaped the Dixie Fire in August of 2021, were arrested in the North Valleys after being ordered to evacuate their California property. Five days after they fled the fire, the couple was arrested by Washoe County Sheriff’s Office deputies for possessing stolen property. 

The Turners said a single complaint—from one of Kera’s old friends who offered to help them after they evacuated their small California farm—led to their being jailed. They escaped the fire using a truck and trailer left on their property by people who helped at their farm. Both had been reported stolen, unbeknown to them.

They said they were in the process of purchasing the truck and trailer, having paid half of $12,000 to someone they believed was the rightful owner. The trailer, they said, had been left on their property. The sheriff’s office confirmed their arrest was from a single complaint made by the people whom they had entrusted to watch their children and property.

“The impoundment of this property was precipitated by a call for service, which resulted in the report of a stolen truck and trailer in the possession of Joseph … and Kera,” a Washoe County Sheriff’s spokesperson said. 

During the arrest, the two were handcuffed and placed in separate vehicles. They demanded to know why they were being detained.

“You’re being detained for an investigation of stolen vehicles,” a deputy said.

“Stolen?” Kera responded. “Are you kidding me? They’re abandoned.”

“OK,” the officer responded and then shut the vehicle door on her. “Somebody reported those abandoned vehicles stolen.”

The Turners said they were shocked.

“When you look on the police report, they start doing this inventory log of the travel trailer, not at all the truck, then they cross it out.”

“We both gave the same account,” Kera said. “I told the officers that I had [a] bill of sale, transaction receipts for all of the stuff. We were basically shrugged off, so off to jail we went.”

During the arrest, CPS employees accused the couple of drug use and possession of drug paraphernalia. Deputies broke into the trailer containing their possessions, finding numerous guns and ammunition. The officers said they found burnt tinfoil in the truck and hypodermic needles in the trailer. The Turners said they had no knowledge of the tinfoil, and the “needles” were syringes, they said, for treating their farm animals.

They said deputies and investigators asked no further questions. After being released from jail, the Turners were told to request back their property.

“We filed a report,” Kera said. “We sent it to (the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office). We never heard anything. We were just so confused. We kept saying, ‘What do you guys need from us?’ At one point, we were so tired we were going to just take a misdemeanor (charge) and be done with it.”

Most of their property, which they said was worth as much as $100,000 or more, was in the stolen trailer. After they were released from custody, Kera said they were given two garbage bags to collect their belongings.

“We were told a bunch more of our stuff was (in evidence) in Washoe County,” she said. “Never once did we receive a onesie or a binky (or any) of our baby’s stuff. The only thing we were given back was a stack of $2 bills, and Joe was given a (Veterans Affairs) tablet that he was issued and some empty [ammunition] magazines.”

They said the sheriff’s office told them that was all they had. 

“We were calling and saying, ‘Please, we will pay to have (the trailer) professionally cleaned, whatever, just give us our stuff,’” Kera said. “This was sitting in their care and custody for weeks, and there was supposed to be a whole chain of custody, and we’re just being lied to over and over again.”

They said the sheriff’s office told them the trailer owners picked up the trailer and all their property. They said that didn’t add up because what was returned to them was not readily tied to being their property, but other items, such as medications, were clearly theirs.

“How do they know these $2 bills are ours, for instance, whereas our prescription bottles with our names on it … they can’t give those back?” Kera said. “When you look on the police report, they start doing this inventory log of the travel trailer, not at all the truck, then they cross it out.”

What’s missing are, potentially, dozens of firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

“What happens if something happens with those firearms, and that gets traced back to my husband?” Kera asked.

Read part three tomorrow: ‘We’re taking your children. Have a good night.’ Subscribe to read the seven-part series.