The vigilance of local retail employees’ and their actions have led to the arrest and prosecution of a local prolific thief.
Emilrussel Pascual (dob 11/22/89) has been sentenced to 10 years in prison with parole eligibility after 30 months, on a charge of participating in an Organized Retail Theft. Through the Washoe County District Attorney’s Retail Theft Initiative, and in collaboration with retail investigators and law enforcement as part of the Northern Nevada Organized Retail Crime Association (NNORCA), Pascual was identified in several retail thefts and ultimately captured.
In 2025, Pascual began stealing from multiple local stores. During two separate incidents, he stole more than $3,000 worth of glasses from a store at Summit Mall. Employees at the store prevented a third theft after being alerted to Pascual approaching the store and locking him out. On two different occasions, the defendant also stole almost $2,500 worth of boots from Boot Barn. During a three-month period, Pascual stole more than $5,000 of merchandise from two different Ulta stores. And finally, he stole multiple shoes from Nordstrom Rack on five different occasions with a loss of more than $2,000. In August of 2025, Loss Prevention staff at Nordstrom Rack alerted the Reno Police after they caught Pascual stealing. He was subsequently arrested and detectives linked Pascual to these earlier crimes.
At sentencing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Matt Lee drew attention to the widespread impact these crimes have on both businesses and the community, leading to safety concerns and higher consumer costs. Chief Lee sought the 10-year prison sentence, arguing that this would send a message to other would-be thieves that these crimes will not be tolerated in our community.
Judge Lynne Jones presided and imposed the sentence.
