Wallin-Reed rejects plea deal

  A new trial date has been set for a Reno man charged in the 2011 shooting death of a Susanville man.

  Gregory Chad Wallin-Reed, 38, is scheduled to go on trial Aug. 19 in Plumas County Superior Court. The jury trial is expected to last four weeks.

  According to District Attorney David Hollister, Wallin-Reed rejected a plea deal on March 4. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Hollister said “all offers were rejected and withdrawn.”

  Superior Court Judge Ira Kaufman granted a motion from Wallin-Reed’s attorneys to move the trial date back to August. The trial had been scheduled to begin in May.

  Wallin-Reed pleaded “not guilty” to eight felony counts, including murder, in the aftermath of a July 2, 2011, car chase near Antelope Lake.

  He is accused of shooting and killing Rory McGuire and wounding two passengers in McGuire’s car with an assault rifle following a late-night chase that began at Wallin-Reed’s residence along the Janesville Grade.

  Wallin-Reed told deputies that he chased the car, driven by McGuire and containing five other men, after he caught them stealing solar lights from his property.

  He admitted firing several rounds from an AR-15 assault rifle at the fleeing car. Wallin-Reed told detectives that he was sure someone in the car fired shots at him, and that he was returning fire.

  No weapon was found in the victims’ car, according to the district attorney.

  Wallin-Reed made a 911 call after the incident to report the shooting. He was arrested on July 3, 2011, and was charged with murder the following day after McGuire died from a head wound.

  Wallin-Reed is charged with murder, shooting at an occupied vehicle, five counts of assault with a firearm and possession of an assault weapon.