Former Nye County, NV Sheriff Sharon Wehrly dies
I am posing this for Druff since he sometimes follows these stories. I didnt know Wehrly well, but not happy with her once leaving a loaded service pistol in the stall of a casino restroom. Also sad she only got to enjoy retirement for a year.
https://www.fox5vegas.com/2023/12/15...n-wehrly-dies/
Last edited by desertrunner; 12-25-2023 at 11:30 PM.
I should explain the relevance here.
Nevada's Nye County directly borders Clark County. Unlike Clark County, Nye does not have any large cities, so it is sparsely populated, and lives in the shadow of greater Las Vegas. The entire population of Nye County is around 50,000, with 80% of it located in Pahrump.
Nye County also has a few things that Clark County doesn't -- legalized prostitution, wide availability of fireworks, and more permissive gun laws.
For this reason, some Vegas visitors and residents travel to Pahrump (roughly an hour away) for either the legal brothels or gun events/shows (or both).
Pahrump was also the home of famed radio conspiracist Art Bell (who died in April 2018). Bell's "Midnight in the Desert" show broadcasted late at night from his remote Pahrump home, where he had both the show's studio and transmitter. The show being fully produced and broadcasted from Pahrump gave it an additional eerie feel -- as if you were sitting outside with Bell, with a black desert sky overhead, as he told you stories of aliens and the supernatural.
But back to this woman Sharon Wehrly.
She was elected to Sheriff in 2014, and had a controversial tenure. Almost 70 when first elected, some felt Wehrly was too old to be the new Sheriff, even in a low-populated county with little crime.
She also drew controversy for putting up "sheriff recruitment billboards" in 2018 which seemed to double as reelection campaign ads, as well as comparing gun control advocates to Hitler in 2020.
In addition, one of her police captains was facing all kinds of abuse of power allegations, yet is still employed.
In 2021, Nye deputies released an intoxicated man an hour before he caused a car accident which killed 3 people.
Her most infamous scandal involved accidentally leaving her service pistol in a casino bathroom in 2018.
Wehrly had cancer, and I'm guessing was suffering from a form of senility, which likely caused the gun-in-the-bathroom incident. She lost reelection in 2022, when she was almost 78.
Indeed, about 18 months later, she passed away while on hospice care, so her claims regarding the cancer being in remission were either false or very fleeting.
Her 2022 reelection campaign reminded me of the 1998 campaign of LA County Sheriff Sherman Block. Block, 74 at the time, was also in declining health. His then-opponent Lee Baca said that Block was no longer fit to lead a major county's police department. Block countered that, while his physical health was not the greatest, he was mentally sharp, and "wouldn't be the one chasing criminals over fences". Block was highly likely to win reelection, but then fell in the bathtub, which caused a major brain injury, and he died 3 days later. He still got 1/3 of the vote.
You never did explain the relevance. You and Desertrunner are both big Art Bell fans or favored the brothels in Parhump?
It is relevant because it is Vegas adjacent, and many people who have lived in or frequented Vegas are familiar with Nye County and Pahrump.Originally Posted by Sanlmar
The Art Bell connection is just something additional.
This gun toting 78 year old apparently didn’t have much confidence in current public safety. The mental health issue is just a bonus.
art bell was an interesting character to say the least.
"Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky
"America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs
Some important notes-
I got this story from the Nevada Shooters.com website. Most members there are old white dudes based in Nye County and knew her well. Here are two posts to share-
She's also the one who took over a very corrupt department and cleaned house, firing about half the staff, and denying them their pensions, HR218s and prosecuting them. Didn't see all that in the news, did you? She kept it under wraps to prevent the guilty parties' families from suffering due to the misdeeds of one member of a family.
Knew her for over 40 years, she will be missed.I didnt know the woman, so dont want to throw her under the bus. I did remember the casino pistol restroom incident and was like- WTH lady?A few years ago I talked to a friend who grew up in Pahrump. He said that she was fair and knew her limits to her own personal experience.
Whenever there was a complex crime scene or tactical situation she would humbly defer to those with expertise in those areas to help her make decisions. Signs of a good leader.
As for Pahrump, I know Druff likes the place as I do too, so I had to post it. As for Art Bell, I was a fan, but NOT into the alien/UFO stuff.
I also think Pahrump will finally take off one day and become a legit city, it needs to. As for the brothels in Nye, I have never purchased. I did always think that "the chicken ranch" was a running joke, but it is really a legit business there. As for the Sheriff's Office in general, they seem to have a good operation and been on COPS and Live PD.
Oh yeah, I do like the fireworks option in Nye County and would like to own a home with a big back yard and light them off, if I could.
Also, the casinos in Pahrump seem to be pretty legit and have good food, this is what attracts me to retiring there. If I do retire there, Druff will probably come over, hang out and we will tell the same stories over and over.
Anyways, RIP to the former sheriff.
She WAS public safety as LEOs usually carry off-duty. Whether it was a mental health issue or carelessness, it happened.
Funny thing, another female police chief on the central California coast did the exact same bathroom pistol mistake a few years back.
never mind its a different sheriff.
"Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky
"America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs
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