South Lake Tahoe police have arrested a Carmichael man in the death of a teenager 31 years ago.
Richard E. Swanson, 16, was killed Aug. 14, 1980 at what was then a Shell gas station at what is known as the Y intersection, Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Emerald Bay Road.
He was killed during a robbery, according to a South Lake Tahoe city website. Swanson was working the late shift alone the night of his death.
Swanson, whose head was severely beaten, was robbed of his wallet that contained $190 - cash from his first paycheck at the station. Also taken, was $761.02 from the gas station cash drawer.
Last Thursday, Andrew Sanford, 50, of Carmichael, was arrested on suspicion of homicide in the killing of Swanson and booked into Sacramento County Jail. A police department press release did not reveal what evidence lead them to Sanford.
Swanson parents, Ron and Sharon Swanson, thanked investigators for pursing the case for more than three decades and released a statement through the police department:
"We have waited for over 31 years for this day, but we never gave up hope. It has been a long wait, but god told us to be patient and justice would come."
South Lake Tahoe's "Secret Witness" program, in which tipsters are rewarded for information that solves crimes, was formed as a result of Swanson's death. Nearly $10,000 was raised for information regarding the death.
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