Sacto 9-1-1

A Las Vegas man is headed to prison after being sentenced in federal court in Sacramento for defrauding a South Lake Tahoe investor of $2.9 million.

U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. today sentenced Jed Baron, 55, to five years and three months in prison for wire fraud related to the investment scheme, according to a Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, Baron made a series of false business proposals to a victim in the Lake Tahoe area, including investment in a venture to sell Irish seafood to restaurants in Las Vegas. Instead of using the victim's money for the intended purpose, Baron diverted the funds for personal use and to pay other investors from previous deals.

A 34-year-old Cameron Park man was arraigned today in federal court in Sacramento on charges of bank embezzlement.

Ethan George Banaszak pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on $75,000 bond, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. He is to appear before U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. for a status conference May 17.

A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment Thursday charging Banaszak with embezzling thousands of dollars from his employer, a federally insured bank. According to court records, Banaszak allegedly made more than $660,000 in unauthorized withdrawals from bank customers' accounts and took $16,000 in cash from the bank's vault.

The case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

One man died and two women were injured in a single-vehicle crash Friday morning on Highway 50 just east of Red Hawk Parkway in El Dorado County.

Officer Dan Stark of the California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred about 11:05 a.m. when a 1996 Toyota Corolla eastbound on Highway 50 in the fast lane for unknown reasons drifted onto the center median. The vehicle over-corrected, hit a rock face on the right hand shoulder and overturned, according to police.

Vincent Rapolla, 19, riding in the back seat, was ejected through the rear window. Stark said the man was pronounced dead at the scene and had not been wearing a seat belt.

The driver, 25-year-old Laura Duggin, was transported by helicopter to Mercy San Juan Medical Center and is in critical condition.

Family members told the CHP that Duggin was several weeks pregnant, Stark said.

Ashley Valdez, 18, who was riding in the front seat, was transported by ambulance to UC Davis Medical Center with moderate injuries.

The three were residents of Diamond Springs. Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the accident, but the cause is still under investigation, Stark said.

Amador and El Dorado County residents planning to burn debris on their property are reminded that residential burn permits will be required beginning Wednesday.

The permits are issued to the public free of charge and are valid for three years from the date of issuance. They allow for burning of dry vegetation -- not household trash -- that originates on the landowner's property, according to a news release from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Amador-El Dorado Unit. The permits are available at most of the area's staffed fire stations.

Cal Fire officials remind residents that the use of burn barrels is no longer legal in Amador and El Dorado counties.

Special weapons and tactics forces executed search and arrest warrants in South Lake Tahoe where a motorcycle club member was taken into custody on suspicion of committing several felonies.

South Lake Tahoe Police Department authorities used SWAT because they considered arresting Anthony Corbin a high-risk situation. Corbin, 46, is a member of the South Lake Tahoe Brotherhood Motorcycle Club.

He is suspected of beating a 34-year-old South Lake Tahoe man in mid-March. The victim was left with significant injuries, including broken bones.

El Dorado County authorities have arrested the owners of Poor Red's Bar-B-Q - a local institution in Diamond Springs - on suspicion of tax evasion and insurance fraud.

Michael and Brenda Adams are accused of evading almost $350,000 in taxes over the last six years, according to a news release from the El Dorado District Attorney's office.

Prosecutors have filed a complaint against the Adamses in El Dorado Superior Court alleging more than 30 counts of tax evasion and insurance fraud, the release states.

Search warrants were executed today at the couple's residence and business by El Dorado sheriff's deputies, District Attorney's investigators and agents from the Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Department and the Board of Equalization.

The couple are being held in lieu of $350,000 bail in the El Dorado county jail in Placerville.

Poor Red's opened in 1948 and is best known for its signature drink, the Golden Cadillac, a frothy blend of Galliano, half-and-half, white cream de cacao and ice.

A 19-year-old Garden Valley woman died this morning in a head-on collision on Lotus Road in rural El Dorado County.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Quinn Cuthbertson said the woman was driving a silver Ford Focus southbound on Lotus Road south of Highway 49 near Coloma about 8:30 a.m. when for an unknown reason she crossed into the northbound lane, into the path of a white Ford Explorer.

Cuthbertson said the driver of the Focus did not appear to have been wearing a seat belt and suffered fatal injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name has not been released pending notification of family.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department is investigating the death of a teenager who was found critically injured in a roadway early Saturday morning.

Deputies responded about 4:19 a.m. to a report of a man lying on Sand Ridge Road in south Placerville. When they arrived, they found a 17-year-old boy lying in the roadway in critical condition, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Emergency medical personnel transported the youth to Marshall Hospital in Placerville where he died of his injuries.

Sheriff's officials said the young man has been identified and his family has been notified of his death, but his name is being withheld pending further investigation.

A Fresno man who controlled marijuana growing operations in El Dorado, Placer and Tehama counties has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.

Uriel Ochoa-Espindola, 44, today received a 17.5-year sentence in Sacramento from U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb for his part in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Ochoa-Espindola was the leader of a massive marijuana manufacturing operation and an interstate drug distribution ring, according to court documents. His operation was based near Delhi, but he and his partners grew tens of thousands of marijuana plants in three different counties and shipped their product across the country with the aid of commercial truckers.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's office said a $10,000 reward is being offered to find a woman who has not been heard from in more than a year.

Sara Fawcett, (pictured) a Placerville Wal-Mart employee, called in sick Sept. 22, 2011. She was last seen or heard from the next morning, according to a missing person's bulletin.

The investigation into her disappearance continues. Her family is offering the reward.

Fawcett, 53, was reported missing by her father after she did not return home after several days.

Fawcett, who did not own a vehicle, usually borrowed her father's car, but the vehicle was not taken by the woman. Her belongings were also not taken from her residence on the family's Pollock Pines property.

At the time of her disappearance, the Sheriff's Department said it is unlike Fawcett to leave her home without her purse and cell phone.

She is described as 5 feet 1 inch tall, about 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Paul Hadjes at (530) 642-4713.

A South Lake Tahoe marijuana dispensary owner has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for marijuana trafficking.

Gennaro DiMatteo, 43, was sentenced today in Sacramento by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. DiMatteo had entered a guilty plea in January. As part of his plea agreement, DiMatteo will forfeit more than $40,000 to the United States, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

In pleading guilty, DiMatteo admitted that during a search of his South Lake Tahoe residence, law enforcement agents discovered a hidden door that led to several subsurface rooms under the structure. Equipment set up in the rooms was standard for indoor marijuana cultivation gardens.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Team of Active Retirees -- STAR -- is offering two programs to help residents improve home security when they are away from their residences and on vacation.

The STAR Unit offers training, literature and outlines to help residents establish Neighborhood Watch programs for their neighborhood. The unit also will provide a one-time presentation about the program to an interested street or neighborhood.

STAR will also provide vacation checks of homes when residents are on vacation. While on patrol, STAR volunteers stop by the home, check the perimeter and make sure that the residence is in good condition and hasn't been a victim of crime. If they find a problem, the volunteers alert sheriff's deputies so they can investigate. The house checks are offered at least twice a week to homeowners on vacation.

The vacation house checks and help in establishing Neighborhood Watch programs are available free of charge to anyone living in the unincorporated area of El Dorado County. To request services, or information about becoming a STAR volunteer, call the Placerville STAR office at (530) 621-7545, or the Tahoe office, (530) 573-3005.

An investigation into marijuana sales in El Dorado County has resulted in six arrests, as well as seizure of approximately 60 pounds of processed marijuana and $80,000 in currency.

A three-month investigation by El Dorado County sheriff's detectives regarding a conspiracy to sell marijuana culminated Thursday with the service of five search warrants, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The investigation centered around the sale of marijuana through two businesses. River City Wellness, also known as Right Choice Wellness, in Cameron Park and C4C in Shingle Springs were operated by 45-year-old David Sisson (top left photo) of El Dorado, his wife, 44-year-old Stacy Sisson (top right photo), also of El Dorado, and David Sisson's brother, 34-year-old Robert Sisson (left photo) of Shingle Springs, authorities said.

Three suspects robbed a South Lake Tahoe motel late Saturday night, brandishing a handgun and holding a hunting knife at the neck of a clerk before getting away with cash, police said.

An unidentified woman knocked at the locked front lobby door at the Pinewood Lodge, 3818 Lake Tahoe Blvd., about 11:30 p.m. and told the clerk she needed a room, according to police.

When the clerk opened the door, two men wearing ski masks and gloves came into the office. One man allegedly showed a handgun and pushed the clerk behind the counter. The second man reportedly had a large hunting knife and placed it near the clerk's neck.

The female suspect demanded money, while the man with a gun opened the cash drawer and removed an undisclosed amount of cash, according to police.

The trio fled the scene in a brown four-door Cadillac headed eastbound toward the casino corridor.

The female suspect was described as a black woman, about 5-foot-4, wearing a gray sweatshirt with a hood. Both male suspects were described as black men, about 6-foot-2, wearing dark clothing. One was armed with a small black semi-automatic handgun and the other with a large hunting-style knife with a black blade.

Anyone with information on the robbery is urged to call South Lake Tahoe Police Department at (530) 542-6100.

A Carmichael couple have entered no contest pleas in the 2009 death of a parolee whose body was found in a rural area of El Dorado County.

Charles Gaskin, 48, pleaded no contest today to the first-degree murder of Neil Hayes, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. Gaskin's wife and co-defendant, Sandra Sheaves, pleaded no-contest to a felony charge of being an accessory to murder. Gaskin also admitted an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon, and his wife admitted an enhancement for misuse of information obtained from the Megan's Law website.

Hayes, 66, was released on parole in June 2009 and contacted Gaskin, whom he had met while both were incarcerated in the same prison, authorities said. Gaskin and Sheaves allowed Hayes to stay in their garage because he had no permanent residence.

An El Dorado County jail inmate collapsed while exercising Friday evening in an outdoor recreation yard and died at a nearby hospital, said El Dorado County sheriff's deputies.

James Thomas Clark, 53, from West Sacramento, collapsed while in the yard about 8 p.m., officials said. Correctional officers immediately started CPR, and Clark was transported to Marshall Hospital in Placerville, where he was pronounced dead.

He never regained consciousness, sheriff's officials said.

There were no obvious signs of foul play, sheriff's reports said.

The incident is being investigated by the Sheriff's Office and the El Dorado County District Attorney's office.

The former treasurer of the Lions Education Foundation was arrested today in El Dorado County, accused of embezzling more than $275,000 from the nonprofit organization.

The El Dorado County District Attorney's Office announced the arrest of Kent Maloney (pictured), 69, of Diamond Springs. The funds allegedly were embezzled over a period of seven years from the Lions Education Fund, which is associated with Lions Club International.

The DA's Office noted that according to the foundation's website, its budget is allocated to youth and education, with no administrative costs, and 100 percent of all monies going directly to support youth programs.

A Shingle Springs teenager is in custody, accused of attempted murder after allegedly assaulting a couple Sunday night.

The El Dorado County sheriff's dispatch center received a call about 10 p.m. from 42-year-old Deborah Lewis who reported her husband, Craig Templin, 51, had been stabbed. The couple had been living in a tent along the railroad right of way outside the town of El Dorado, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

Lewis told authorities that the man, whom the couple did not know, entered their tent while they were sleeping. They awoke when the assault began.

South Lake Tahoe police seek to identify the suspect in a robbery that occurred this afternoon at the El Dorado Savings Bank at 3443 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Officers responded to the robbery report about 2:06 p.m. They were told that a man entered the bank and passed a note to the teller demanding money. After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the man left on foot.

No weapon was seen during the robbery, according to a Police Department news release.

A pedestrian who died Friday evening after he was struck by a vehicle in South Lake Tahoe has been identified by police as John Carleton, 51, a local resident.

Officers responded about 6:45 p.m. to 2681 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Police said Carleton was crossing the street when he was struck by an SUV. He was taken to Barton Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a Police Department news release.

The driver of the SUV, Gregory Stearns, 49, also of South Lake Tahoe, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol with a suspended license.

Police said the cause of the collision remains under investigation pending autopsy results.

A man is dead after being hit by a driver who was under the influence of alcohol, South Lake Tahoe police said.

The fatality occurred Friday evening shortly before 7 p.m. in the 2600 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd., when a 51-year-old male pedestrian was crossing the street and was struck by a black SUV, authorities said. Emergency personnel transported the unconscious man to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police are not releasing his name at this time.

The driver of the SUV, Gregory Stearns, 49, of South Lake Tahoe was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and with a suspended license, according to reports. Police are still investigating the incident but said the pedestrian may have also been intoxicated.

Motorists arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in El Dorado County will face specially trained prosecutors, thanks to a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The $313,325 grant to the District Attorney's Office will fund a "vertical prosecution" team that will work on DUI cases from arrest through sentencing, according to District Attorney's Office news release.

"The new vertical prosecution team will aggressively investigate and prosecute the most serious DUIs in our county in order to properly punish DUI offenders, and ultimately, to save lives and make the roads a little safer for the residents of El Dorado County," District Attorney Vern Pierson said in written statement.

By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com

Law enforcement in the Sacramento region will launch a second round of targeted ticketing of distracted drivers next week, the state Office of Traffic Safety says.

The focus on drivers who talk on handheld cell phones or text is part of a $600,000 federal experiment to see if a series of focused ticketing events, along with public awareness announcements, succeeds in reducing the number of distracted-driving crashes on the road.

The targeted enforcement period will run from Monday through March 10. The California Highway Patrol and 37 local police agencies will participate.

An El Dorado Hills teen on a family outing died on Sunday in a Sierra sledding accident.

Dylan Ridolfi, 15, an offensive lineman on the unbeaten Oak Ridge High School freshman football team, was sledding with about 10 family and friends at Mt. Rose Sunday afternoon when the accident occurred.

Football was a passion for the teen, who stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds. He also had a soft spot in his heart for kids, invariably being drawn to the smallest in the room at gatherings.

A car simulator in which drivers can safely experience the dangers of texting while driving will be at Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs on Thursday.

The simulator, provided by AT&T, is part of a joint effort by the telecommunications company and El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson to educate young drivers about the dangers of texting and driving, according to a District Attorney's Office news release. The simulator will be on campus from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

AT&T's national "It Can Wait" campaign encourages motorists to take the "No Texting and Driving" pledge. More than 1.2 million people have pledged never to text and drive as a result of the campaign.

Drivers can learn more about the It Can Wait campaign and download the AT&T DriveMode mobile app, intended to curb the urge to text and drive, at itcanwait.com.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Amador-El Dorado Unit will hold its 11th annual Fill the Boot for Burns fundraising event Saturday at three locations in Cameron Park.

From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., firefighters will collect donations at the corner of Cameron Park and Country Club drives, Merrychase Drive and Cambridge Road, and Green Valley and Cambridge roads. Area residents can drive by and donate.

Money raised from the event will go toward sending young burn victims to burn camps, and to research programs for the advancement of burn treatment and rehabilitation.

A South Lake Tahoe police officer was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Sacramento for multiple counts of witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding.

John Gerald Poland, 44, was arrested Jan. 23 following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Lake Tahoe Police Department and the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

According to court documents, on June 29, 2011, Poland, interfered with a federal investigation of a South Lake Tahoe gang member. Poland is alleged to have persuaded the gang member's girlfriend to conceal and destroy evidence.

By Anne Gonzales

afgonzales@sacbee.com

A rockslide briefly closed Highway 50 east of Placerville, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Eastbound and westbound lanes on the highway 27 miles east of Placerville were blocked, starting at 9:24 a.m. today. A CHP dispatcher said after 11 a.m. that the roadway had been reopened.

Crews have been removing rock from the roadway.

Motorists can expect delays in the area, officers said.

A South Lake Tahoe police officer was arrested today, accused of witness tampering.

The arrest of John Gerald "Johnny" Poland followed a three-year investigation, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation news release. He was taken into custody without incident this morning in South Lake Tahoe.

According to court documents, the violations include two counts of corruptly persuading a person to alter, destroy or conceal an object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding, and attempting to do so, as well as three counts of corruptly persuading another person with the intent to influence the testimony of a person in an official proceeding, and attempting to do so. Poland's alleged actions reportedly took place while he was on and off duty.

The El Dorado County Sheriff has fired off an anti-gun control letter to Vice President Joe Biden.

"It is well known and proven with facts, not emotional inference, that gun control of any kind, has no effect on the reduction of crime, anywhere," wrote Sheriff John D'Agostini.

The letter, also sent out as a press release, was written to Biden Jan. 17.

To see the El Dorado County Sheriff's letter to Biden, click here.

The Obama administration is trying to get congressional support for a package of gun-control proposals, including an assault rifle ban. Biden helped formulate the proposals.

The gun control proposals come following the December shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 20 children and six staffers dead.

An 18-year-old is in jail on suspicion of homicide after the stabbing death of another young man last night in El Dorado County.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies said they responded to the area of Brown's Road and Cold Springs Road, just north of Placerville, about 4 p.m. Wednesday where they were told a person had been stabbed.

They were also told that the person who stabbed 20-year-old Matthew Steele of Auburn had fled on foot. Paramedics arrived and transferred Steele to Marshall Hospital where he died about two hours later.

Deputies took Wesley Hampshire, 18, of Placerville into custody at his home on Brown's Road. He was later booked into county jail on suspicion of homicide.

Details on what lead up to the stabbing were not available.

PHOTO CAPTION: Wesley Ronald Hampshire

A 74-year-old man, dubbed the "fedora bandit" by law enforcement agents, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Sacramento to three counts of armed bank robbery.

David Griffith Osborne, formerly of Carson City, pleaded guilty to robbing the American River Bank, 9750 Business Park Drive, in Rancho Cordova on June 3, 2010, as well as the Bank of the West in Gridley on April 26, 2010, and the Chase Bank in Paradise on June 29, 2010, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Osborne also admitted to four other bank robberies at Bank of the West branches in Grass Valley, Dec. 22, 2009, and March 31, 2010; South Lake Tahoe, Feb. 18, 2010; Kings Beach, March 9, 2010.

A 70-year-old woman has been arrested after a man -- identified Tuesday as her husband --was found dead with an apparent gunshot wound at their El Dorado County home.

Colleen Ann Harris was booked Monday into El Dorado County Jail on suspicion of murder.

Deputies on Sunday responded to the 3200 block of Wilderness Court in the Hanks Exchange area south of Placerville after receiving a report of a homicide. Upon arriving, they met with Harris, then entered the home and found a man who appeared to have sustained a fatal gunshot wound, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

He was identified by the sheriff's department Tuesday as the woman's spouse, 72-year-old Robert Edward Harris.

Homicide detectives, crime scene investigators and coroner detectives were summoned, and sheriff's officials said investigation of the death continues. No details have been released regarding the circumstances of the shooting.

The body of a man missing for more than a month has been found in El Dorado County.

When David Clement, 30, of Camino, was thought to have gone for a jog on the morning of Nov. 6 and never returned, his father worried that he might have been attacked by a mountain lion.

Searchers looked many times for the Army veteran but had no luck. Then, on Dec. 19, his father and other searchers tried again and found Clement's remains in the Snows Road area of Camino.

Nearly 3,000 drivers were caught breaking cell phone rules during a crackdown in 37 police jurisdictions in and around Sacramento County.

"We are committed to saving lives on area roadways, and drivers should expect to continue to see officers enforcing cell phone driving laws time and time again," said state Office of Traffic Safety director Chris Murphy.

California was one of two states to receive grants for high-visibility law enforcement pilot programs to squelch motorists' hand-held cell phone use and texting. In addition to California, Delaware was selected to mount a pilot project.

The California program, dubbed "Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other," was conducted in eight counties with 3.8 million residents in an area ranging from Modesto to Marysville and Vallejo to South Lake Tahoe. The crackdown occurred from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9.

Freezing conditions this morning have caused traffic accidents when vehicles slid out of control on black ice.

"It's all over the foothills," said California Highway Patrol officer Rich Wetzel. "We had two crashes on Bass Lake Road north of Highway 50. No injuries. Both are off the road."

Also this morning, around 7 a.m., north of Newcastle in Placer County, water run-off from a tree farm caused ice to form on Highway 193 near Gold Hill Road, according to a CHP traffic website.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's office has added an investigator to focus on elder abuse.

Reports of elder abuse have increased nine percent since 2011 in the county. The county's population of residents over the age of 65 is 31.6 percent greater than the state's average.

Physical abuse takes in not only assaults, but inappropriate use of drugs, restraints and confinement. Financial exploitation involves the taking of an older person's money, either by a caregiver or a scam artist.

A 26-year-old man died Saturday after a two-vehicle accident that knocked out power in the Ski Run neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe, police reported.

William Olazaba of South Lake Tahoe was pronounced dead at Barton Memorial Hospital after the 1:35 a.m. accident on Pioneer Trail at Ski Run Boulevard, the South Lake Tahoe police said Saturday.

Olazaba was a passenger in a sedan driven by Roberto Olazaba, 22, of South Lake Tahoe that broadsided a sport-utility vehicle passing through the intersection.

The driver of the SUV, Nick Corea, 26, of South Lake Tahoe, was treated and released at Barton Memorial. Roberto Olazaba was admitted to the hospital for observation.

The collision briefly shut off power to the Ski Run neighborhood after one of the vehicles stuck a power conversion box.

An El Dorado County man was killed in gunfire last night in an officer-involved shooting.

The dead man was identified as Christopher Michael Sheldon, 38, of Pollock Pines.

The incident began when the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office dispatch center received a call about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday from a resident in the 2900 block of Kimberly Lane in Pollock Pines. The caller said that a man at the residence was threatening to shoot himself.

A stretch of Highway 49 near Diamond Springs has reopened to traffic after being closed for several hours due to a downed utility pole.

The pole and utility lines were reported down about 3 this morning. A California Highway Patrol traffic website reported that the pole snapped, but the reason for the failure has not been released. A CHP spokesman said there was no evidence that it had been struck by a vehicle.

The highway, between Fowler Lane and Missouri Flat Road, reopened shortly after 2 p.m.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has released the name of the man killed Tuesday when a large oak fell on his pickup truck

He was identified as Bryan Lee Vandeventer, 48, of Shingle Springs.

A California Highway Patrol officer said Vandeventer was driving his Ford 150 pickup westbound on Green Valley Road near Ponderosa Road near Rescue about 8 a.m. Tuesday when the tree fell.

Vandeventer died but a 10-year-old boy inside the crushed cab of the truck was not injured, according to the CHP.

El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies on Monday arrested the 33-year-old man suspected in the Thanksgiving-eve murder at Red Hawk Casino.

After getting a tip on Juarez Estephen's location, deputies first set up surveillance on Cothrin Ranch Road and then took him into custody at around 10 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Estephen, who was previously called a person of interest in the Nov. 21 stabbing death, surrendered peacefully, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's department.

A heavy oak tree fell on a truck this morning near Rescue, crushing the driver but sparing the life of a boy.

A California Highway Patrol officer said the Ford 150 pickup was traveling westbound on Green Valley Road near Ponderosa Road about 8 a.m. today when the tree fell. The limb crushed the cab of the truck.

The driver, about 50 years old, died but the 10-year-old passenger was not injured, according to the CHP.

El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a man who they allege was caught in the act of molesting a child by the youngster's mother.

Deputies were called at about 5 p.m. Monday to an apartment near Green Valley and Cambridge roads in Cameron Park by a mother who reported she had caught an acquaintance in the act of molesting her child. Deputies declined to identify the gender or age of the child.

Deputies spoke with the mother and their investigation revealed that the acquaintance was 52-year-old Jeffrey Michael Ellsworth. Ellsworth is a registered sex offender, according to a sheriff's press release.

Ellsworth, a transient living in the Cameron Park area, had fled the apartment complex before deputies arrived. He was later tracked to Oak Hill Road in the Pleasant Valley area where he was arrested on suspicion of child molestation.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jeffrey Michael Ellsworth

By Loretta Kalb and Kim Minugh
lkalb@sacbee.com

Officials released the names Sunday of four people, including two children, who were killed in a two-car collision on Highway 50 just east of Placerville.

The crash happened around 6 p.m. Saturday, when a 2004 Toyota Prius headed west in the Apple Hill area veered across four lanes of traffic and into the path of a minivan.

Three people in the Prius who died at the scene were identified by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office as 38-year-old Sheng Kun Su, who was driving; 39-year-old Shu Zhen Zhao; and 8-year-old Shawn Su, all from Oakland.

By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Authorities released a photo of who they call a person of interest in the stabbing death of man at Red Hawk Casino on Wednesday night.

After interviewing witnesses and analyzing the crime scene, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office reported in a news release that detectives are looking for a man named Estaphen Juarez (pictured) as a person of interest in the incident.

The sheriff's office reported that deputies were dispatched to the Shingle Springs casino at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday following an alleged stabbing on the sixth floor of the casino parking structure.

Earlier today authorities identified the man stabbing victim as 19-year-old Gene Mcarn, from Sacramento County.

Mcarn was transported by friends to Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, where he was pronounced dead.

Call The Bee's Melody Gutierrez, (916) 326-5521. Follow her on Twitter @MelodyGutierrez

Two people died last night in a fire that destroyed an old house in Pilot Hill.

The fire was reported at 4531 Salmon Falls Road at about 6 p.m. Sunday. An El Dorado County Fire District engine from Cool responded in seven minutes to the single-family home engulfed in fire.

Firefighters tried to enter the home but could not because of the flames. Neighbors told them that two people were inside the home, which investigators said was about a century old.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What is going on with the man/case who was arrested in Carmichael this year for a killing that took place 30 years ago in South Lake Tahoe?
Submitted by: George, Fair Oaks

ANSWER: Andrew Evan Sanford is in El Dorado County Jail awaiting trial in the death of 16-year-old Richard E. Swanson.

The California Highway Patrol has announced the arrest of three men in connection with the Sept. 28 robbery of the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa.

The robbery involved the theft of more than $1 million in precious metals, mostly gold.

Search warrants were served this morning in El Dorado, Sacramento and Sutter counties.

A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a shooting at his Placerville-area home Monday night.

The victim, a 55-year-old Citrus Heights man, was taken by air ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and is expected to recover from his injuries, officials said.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Dispatch Center received calls about 7:30 p.m. reporting that gunfire was heard in the 3600 block of Wamego Road, southwest of Placerville. As deputies were en route to the location, a caller reported that someone had been shot at a residence.

Two people, including a man wanted for parole violation, were arrested Thursday night after leading law enforcement officers on a 34-mile pursuit through El Dorado and Amador counties.

The incident began about 9:30 p.m. when an El Dorado County sheriff's special enforcement detail attempted to stop a stolen motorcycle near the Quick Stop Market at 615 Pleasant Valley Road in Diamond Springs. The motorcycle was driven by Brandon Remy (left photo), 44, of Pollock Pines, who was accompanied by a passenger, Karen White (right photo), 24, of Placerville. Remy did not pull over and instead tried to evade deputies, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

Authorities said Remy was released from prison about five months ago, and deputies knew that a warrant had been issued for his arrest for a parole violation.

A man accused of failing for 21 years to pay court-ordered child support has been arrested in El Dorado County.

Martin Seebach, 58, was arrested Monday and is charged in a criminal complaint with two felony charges of grand theft against his now adult children. He also is charged with four misdemeanor counts of disobeying a court order, for failing to pay the court-ordered monthly amounts toward his child support arrears, according to an El Dorado County District Attorney's Office news release.

Over the last 21 years, Seebach has failed to comply with his court-ordered obligations and currently has an arrears balance totaling more than $600,000, the highest in the county, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol is reminding school bus riders and motorists to pay attention to each other to ensure safety.

"I see the driver -- the driver sees me" is the theme of this year's National School Bus Safety Week, Oct. 22-26.

Studies show that the most dangerous part of the school bus ride for children is when they get on and off the bus, according to a CHP news release. Motorists are urged to pay close attention to school buses on local roads and to be aware of their flashing lights. In California, flashing yellow lights on a school bus are a warning to slow down and prepare to stop, while flashing red lights require all motorists to stop.

A vehicle registered to an Elk Grove man who was reported missing in May was located today down a steep embankment off Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe.

Sgt. Dan Paxton of the California Highway Patrol said the vehicle, a 2001 Honda Civic, was spotted near Johnson Pass Road about 2 p.m by a person walking a dog in an area above the crash site. He said the vehicle was about 100 feet down an embankment on the south side of Highway 50.

When officers reached the vehicle and found no one inside, the El Dorado County sheriff's search and rescue team brought in a dog to search the area. Paxton said human remains were found about 100 feet from the vehicle.

A South Lake Tahoe investment broker has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for stealing from clients' accounts.

Lori Zoval, 47, also will be subject to three years of supervised release following her prison term for embezzling client money while employed as a licensed investment broker with a brokerage firm in Folsom. She was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr., and a hearing was scheduled for Nov. 2 to determine the restitution amount, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, Zoval pleaded guilty to using her position of trust to embezzle at least $24,939 from the investment and retirement accounts of her clients between October 2005 and April 2006. At sentencing, however, the court found that she had stolen more than $430,000 from these clients, a married couple close to retirement.

Twenty-five homes in the Somerset area of El Dorado County were threatened this afternoon by a fire that burned 15 acres of heavy brush.

The Sand fire started at 11:35 a.m. on Sand Ridge Road near Bucks Bar Road southeast of Placerville. As of this evening, the fire's progress had been stopped and it was 50 percent contained, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection news release.

No injuries or structural damage has been reported.

A hiker from Brooklyn, N.Y., was lost but then found in El Dorado County's Desolation Wilderness area.

Chris Major, 38, went hiking Sunday in the Desolation Wilderness area with three friends. They set out from Echo Lakes Lodge for a hike to Lake Aloha and then Lake of the Woods.

At Lake of the Woods, they voluntarily separated, according to a press release from the El Dorado County Sheriff's office. Major was the only hiker who didn't return to the group's vehicle parked at Echo Lakes Lodge, prompting one of the friends to call deputies at 6 p.m. Sunday.

A man was booked on attempted homicide charges and various other crimes after fleeing El Dorado County deputies Tuesday in a stolen lumber truck.

Dustin James Woodruff, 27, is suspected of shooting and beating Bryan Santana, 35, of Placerville on July 2. In July, Santana showed up at a Placerville hospital complaining of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.

Doctors thought he had been shot. Deputies were summoned and Santana admitted to being shot. However, at the time, he didn't know who did the shooting.

An El Dorado County Sheriff's official said today that the gunman in Friday night's homicide in Placerville is known to authorities, but is not in custody.

Sheriff's Lt. Tim Becker identified the shooter as Michael Steven Hayes. Earlier today, Becker said the shooter came forward to authorities after the shooting.

No charges have been filed and the investigation continues into whether Hayes is criminally culpable in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Richard Lee Hart.

Authorities said Hart, a Sacramento resident, was armed with a gun when he entered a residence in the 3100 block of Lo Hi Way shortly before midnight Friday. He was then shot with a shotgun and collapsed while trying to leave the house.

The man fatally shot as he entered a Placerville home Friday night has been identified as 37-year-old Lee Hart of Sacramento, authorities said.

Hart was fatally shot with a shotgun after he entered a home in the 3100 block of Lo Hi Way carrying a handgun before midnight, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department reported.

Callers told dispatchers a man had been shot after trying to enter a residence and had tried to flee before collapsing on the ground, the Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

No arrests have been made.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What was the sentence for Betty Gracia and Anthony Portillo for money laundering?
Submitted by: Forty Niner Wayne, Sacramento

ANSWER: Anthony Portillo of El Dorado Hills and his mother, Betty Gracia, pleaded guilty in federal court in Sacramento in April 2011 to money laundering and concealing a felony respectively.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has identified the woman found dead Friday in an overturned vehicle in Cool as 22-year-old Marissa Forster of Georgetown.

Sheriff's deputies responded just before noon Friday to a report of a vehicle accident in the 2400 block of Highway 193 in Cool. They found a vehicle upside down 30 to 40 yards from the roadway. It appeared that the crash occurred some time before it was reported, but the time has not been determined, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

Authorities said Forster was the only occupant of the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner's investigation determined that she died of massive and immediate head trauma.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: Several years ago, an employee of Home Depot in Placerville finished his work shift and was driving home on Highway 50 westbound when his vehicle was hit head on by a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes. The driver of the westbound vehicle was killed in the accident and the driver of the wrong-way vehicle was seriously injured. The Home Depot employee had recently been married. Was the wrong-way driver ever convicted?
Submitted by: Pokopete, Garden Valley

ANSWER: Theresa Ghersanich pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter while driving intoxicated in the crash that killed Bruce Michael Bone of Orangevale.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A wildfire near the hairpin turn where Highway 193 meets Rock Creek Road has burned 45 acres north of Placerville and is 60 percent contained, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said today.

Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson said no structures were threatened in the Rock Fire, which started shortly before 5:30 p.m. Saturday and burned in a northerly direction. The fire has burned mainly brush land north of Placerville and the Chili Bar Reservoir and south of Georgetown.

A man on probation was arrested this afternoon after leading Placerville police on a high-speed chase with a child in his vehicle.

Placerville officers went to the Safeway parking lot about 12:30 p.m. to conduct a probation search of Paul Deocampo, 27, who had been seen in the area, according to a Police Department news release. When officers approached his parked vehicle, Deocampo refused to obey their commands and started to reach into his vehicle for an unknown object, police said. Deocampo then started his vehicle, and one of the officers reached in through the driver's side door try to keep him from driving away.

Police said Deocampo began to drive off, dragging the officer about 10 feet. The officer was able to break free, and Deocampo sped out of the parking lot.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Two El Dorado County men were arrested Monday and are facing felony manslaughter charges in connection with the drug-related death of a Pollock Pines teen.

Jesse Howard Roberts, 21, and Elijah Lee Richter, 20, both of Camino, were arrested and booked into El Dorado County jail on felony charges of involuntary manslaughter, the El Dorado Sheriff's Office announced.

According to a news release from the sheriff's office, Alejandro Nunez Avila, 15, is believed to have voluntarily ingested a hallucinogenic drug sometime late Saturday or early Sunday.

By Richard Chang
rchang@sacbee.com

Two male juveniles are in custody on suspicion of vandalism and burglary at an art supply store, South Lake Tahoe police said today.

Police said the suspects, ages 15 and 16, broke into the store Friday and stole $3,000 worth of spray paint and markers. Today, police received reports of buildings, signs and vehicles tagged with graffiti.

Police received a tip that led them to a residence on Silver Dollar Avenue, where they conducted a probation search and found two juveniles hiding in a closet as well as the stolen art supplies. Both suspects admitted to the burglary, and one admitted to tagging property, officials said

A third juvenile suspect is still at large, police said. Property damage is estimated to be in the thousands of dollars. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call South Lake Tahoe police at (530) 542-6100.

An El Dorado Hills massage therapist has been arrested, accused of false imprisonment and sexual battery.

Patrick Lockard (pictured), 46, of Shingle Springs was arrested Wednesday by El Dorado County sheriff's detectives.

A woman reported that she was receiving a massage from Lockard at Massage Envy in El Dorado Hills when Lockard held her down and sexually battered her, according to a Sheriff's Office news release. Detectives began an investigation to corroborate the woman's statements and eventually arrested Lockard.

An El Dorado Hills woman. injured more than a month ago in an off-road crash on the Rubicon Trail, has died, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's office.

Rachel Anne Gray, 21, died at 12:08 a.m. Sunday.

She had last been reported in critical condition after her vehicle rolled off the Rubicon Trail on July 28, causing a 2-acre forest fire and stranding as many as 300 other Jeeps participating in the Jeepers Jamboree.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What is the status of the prosecution of Daniel Chartraw, accused of multiple financial schemes that duped people of millions of dollars? He was arrested and charged in May.
Submitted by: Sam Wiggins, San Diego

ANSWER: Former El Dorado Hills resident Daniel Chartraw was indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on 18 counts of wire fraud in connection with uranium mines, oil commodities, precious metals in concentrate, dairy financing, gold refining and mining, and movie production.

Reclusive twin sisters who were found dead in their South Lake Tahoe home in February died of natural causes, according to El Dorado County investigators.

The Sheriff's Office announced today that the determination regarding the deaths of Patricia and Joan Miller, 73, was made after a review of pathology reports and evidence from the Miller residence. A pathology report concluded that Patricia Miller died of coronary artery disease. Joan Miller, who relied heavily on her sister for care, died of probable environmental hypothermia, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The women were found dead in their home Feb. 26, and sheriff's officials sought the public's help in locating relatives.

Aviation and law enforcement officials today are investigating the Saturday night crash of a single-engine aircraft shortly after takeoff from Lake Tahoe airport at South Lake Tahoe.

Officials said there were multiple victims aboard the plane but no identities have been confirmed.

Witnesses reported hearing engine problems before seeing the plane dip downward as the pilot attempted a turn, according to a report from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department. The crash occurred about 9:50 p.m.

Law enforcement agencies are continuing their summer/Labor Day campaign to keep impaired drivers off the road, with sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols scheduled this weekend in the Sacramento region.

The campaign began Aug. 17 and runs through Labor Day. Through midnight Thursday, officers representing 17 law enforcement agencies in Sacramento County reported a total of 132 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In Placer County, officers representing seven agencies arrested 23 individuals for driving under the influence through midnight Wednesday, according to a news release. No DUI-related deaths were reported in either county since the campaign began last week.

A sobriety checkpoint is scheduled tonight in the city of Sacramento as the second week of the campaign gets under way. Extra DUI saturation patrols will be deployed in the cities of Folsom and Elk Grove tonight and in Citrus Heights and Elk Grove on Saturday night. Extra patrols also will be deployed in Elk Grove on Sunday night.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What happened to the engineer from Rancho Seco who was accused of sending threatening letters to President Bush? It seems like there wasn't actually anthrax but an inert powder used. Was the guy convicted and sentenced to prison or a medical facility?
Submitted by: Emmi, Sacramento

ANSWER: Michael Lee Braun, who worked as a nuclear engineer at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's now-decommissioned Rancho Seco nuclear generating plant, was arrested in 2006 for sending threatening letters and white powder to the Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills, where President Bush was appearing at a fundraising event for then-Rep. John Doolittle.

Thieves stole a new pickup from a car dealership in Folsom, drove it up Highway 50 and this morning crashed into a drug store to steal an ATM.

In the end, the culprits failed to make off with the cash machine from the CVS store in El Dorado Hills. And after the attempted ATM theft, they abandoned the stolen Ford F350 a short distance away, engine running.

Deputies arrived at the store, 4400 Latrobe Road, shortly after an alarm went off at 2:18 a.m. to find the pharmacy front doors on the ground and shattered glass scattered.

Store video security cameras showed that three people in two pickups were involved in the break-in. The white pickup was backed through the front doors and the thieves then tried to pull the ATM out the door.

When that didn't work, the thieves fled in both trucks, abandoning the new truck in the road about a mile away.

PHOTO CAPTION: The attached photos are of the suspects and their vehicles as they attempt to take an ATM machine from the CVS store in El Dorado Hills.

The annual list of top ten stolen cars was released today by an insurance industry crime-tracking bureau.

The Hot Wheels list from the National Insurance Crime Bureau tracks all theft data, without regard to whether the stolen vehicle was insured.

A recent trend being monitored: thefts of late model vehicles that theoretically are harder to steal due to sophisticated key code technology.

NICB president Joe Wehrle said in a press release that thieves have figured out how to
get the key code for a vehicle, have a replacement key made -- and steal the vehicle within a matter of days.

UPDATE: A notebook belonging to missing UC Davis student Linnea Lomax was found just off the American River Bike Trail, her family announced at a press conference this afternoon.

This was the first solid lead since her disappearance June 26, said Craig Lomax, the girl's father.

The notebook was found near the Sutter Medical Center outpatient facility on Howe Avenue where the 19-year-old Placerville woman was last seen. She was receiving treatment after having a mental breakdown while studying for finals, her father said.

The evidence has been turned over to police, but Lomax confirmed it belonged to his daughter. "I saw the handwriting on the notebook," he said. "It was Linnea's."

The notebook was found during a search by 250 volunteers over the weekend.

The KlaasKids Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to finding missing children, joined in the search. The Sausalito-based group was founded by Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered in 1993. "You shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel every time," Klaas said.

The foundation's Director of Search Operations Brad Dennis came from Florida to aid in the search. "We're doing a very thorough grid search," Dennis said.

"After seven weeks, we finally got a ground zero," Klaas said of Sunday's breakthrough.

Lomax said that as far as he knows, Linnea is alive. "I hope she's still alive, but I also have to believe every tip, theory and lead," he said.

The search has taken a toll on the family. In addition to Linnea, the Lomax's also have a son and daughter who are still in high school. "We're maintaining the search, but we also have to maintain life," Lomax said. "We still have to be mom and dad."

The number of rumors circulating, coupled with the time the case has dragged on, is challenging the viability of the search, Lomax said. "I'm not going to stop looking for her until I can confirm she's safe," he said at the press conference.

The family plans to organize another search Sept. 8. Anyone who wants to help or has information about the whereabouts of Linnea Lomax is asked to visit helpfindlinnea.org.

- Richard Chang

By Ravali Reddy

rreddy@sacbee.com

A low-level fly over of a vintage military aircraft is scheduled to take place Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. in the Green Valley region of El Dorado County.

The flyover is being organized in conjunction with Graveside Services to honor Marine Staff Sgt. Sky Mote and his family.

Mote, 27, had served in the Marine Corps for nine years. He was one of three special operations Marines killed by an Afghan police officer in Afghanistan on Aug. 10. He is survived by his father, a teacher at Rolling Hills Middle School in El Dorado Hills, and his mother, a teacher at Brooks Elementary School in El Dorado Hills.

Law enforcement agencies throughout the Sacramento region have launched a summer campaign to crack down on impaired drivers.

The "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" anti-DUI campaign began today and will continue through the Labor Day weekend. During that period officers in various jurisdictions will conduct sobriety and driver's license checkpoints as well as roving patrols targeting motorists driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The statewide campaign, led by the California Office of Traffic Safety, is intended to heighten public awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and to deter people from driving under the influence.

A wildfire that began Thursday in southern El Dorado County was reported fully contained this afternoon after burning 23.8 acres.

Emergency crews will remain on the scene in the Logtown area and continue to strengthen containment lines and put out hot spots in the burn area throughout the day, according to a news release from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Amador-El Dorado Unit. Firefighting crews will check on the area throughout the weekend.

The fire in the area of Sandridge and Balmaceda roads was reported at 3:54 p.m. Thursday, and within minutes a large smoke column was visible from the Placerville area. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department contacted residents regarding voluntary evacuation of the Balmaceda Road area. The California Highway Patrol closed Sandridge Road between Highway 49 and Tripp Road to allow emergency equipment to get into the area. The road was reopened about four hours later.

A Placerville man has been arrested in the cold case killing and rape of a 17-year-old Santa Cruz County girl, according to the San Mateo County Times.

Detectives took John William Kelley, 49, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of Annette Thur in 1986. Her body was found down an embankment south of Redwood City.

DNA evidence tied Kelley to the killing, police said.

Read the complete San Mateo County Times story here.

More organized searches begin today for missing college student Linnea Lomax.

People who want to participate in the searches on today, Saturday and Sunday should check in at the Find Linnea search center, 2440 Glendale Lane. Check in times are between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., all three days.

Lomax disappeared after walking away from an out-patient mental health facility, where she had been receiving treatment after she had what her family has described as a breakdown while studying for finals at the University of California, Davis.

Lomax, 19, was last seen June 26 around 1 p.m. on the 800 block of Howe Avenue in Sacramento County. She is described as a white woman, 5 feet 2 inches tall, and 100 pounds. She was last seen wearing faded green pants and a dark hooded sweatshirt with the word "Sweden" on the front.

The height of the fire season finds 9,000 federal, state and local firefighters on the frontlines of a dozen large wildfires burning in the state.

Details of notable fires as of this morning:

 Wye fire, Lake and Colusa counties, 8,000 acres, 80 percent contained.

 Salmon fire, El Dorado County, Salmon Falls Road, 108 acres, fully contained.

 Mill fire, Butte County, 1,025 acres, 15 percent contained.

 Ramsey fire, Calaveras County, 1,150 acres, 30 percent contained.

 Rush Fire, Lassen County, 140,949 acres, 25 percent contained.

Firefighters are making good progress despite hot, dry conditions, according to Cal Fire. Cal Fire on Wednesday suspended all burning permits within the State Responsibility Area of California.

Campfires within organized campgrounds are allowed if they are a designated campfire site.

A man who apparently hanged himself from the H Street Bridge in Sacramento on Tuesday has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as 22-year-old Wesley Michael Guidera of El Dorado Hills.

A Sacramento police spokesman said Tuesday that a witness saw Guidera put a rope or other type of ligature around his neck about 10 a.m. He then jumped off the bridge over the American River near California State University, Sacramento.

Fire crews are close to corralling a wildland fire in the Pilot Hill area of El Dorado County that prompted voluntary evacuations for some residents of the rural area.

What has been dubbed the Salmon fire has burned 108 acres and was reported 90 percent contained this evening with full containment expected by midnight.

The fire was reported at 2:23 p.m. in the area of Salmon Falls and Gallagher roads, said Teri Mizuhara, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Amador-El Dorado Unit. She said some structures were threatened.

Sgt. Phil Chovanec of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department said a voluntary evacuation was in effect this afternoon for residents of Equestrian Way and Hound Hollow Road.

Mizuhara said the fire was burning in an area of oak woodlands.

Along with Cal Fire, crews from the El Dorado Hills Fire Department, El Dorado County Fire District and the U.S. Forest Service are on scene with engines and water tenders. Aircraft also are being used to fight the fire, Mizuhara said.

Sheriff's deputies said that a Cameron Park woman took matters into her own hands when a man tried to steal her car -- yanking the alleged thief from her vehicle.

El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies said that Tania Nichols was at a Durock Road car wash in Cameron Park about 9:30 a.m. Monday with her two daughters, ages 8 and 10. While the trio was getting change from a coin machine, a man tried to take the vehicle.

Nichols ran back to her car while her daughters ducked behind the change machine, according to a sheriff's press release.

Mopping up begins today on a fire that has charred 45 acres of timber and brush southeast of Jenkinson Lake in El Dorado County.

The fire was first reported Sunday afternoon near the Sly Park reservoir. Crews are reported today to have secured a line around most of the fire.

The U.S. Forest Service said that firefighters will conduct mop-up operations and continue to build a secure fire line today. The fire is 90 percent contained.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

Containment was placed at 60 percent for a fire burning southeast of Jenkinson Lake today in El Dorado County.

The fire was first reported Sunday afternoon near the Sly Park reservoir. Crews worked through the night, securing a line around the southern end of the wildfire.

No structures were reported threatened this morning, according to fire officials. Total acres of timber and brush burned was placed at 35.

The U.S. Forest Service and CalFire were working to contain the fire today. A cause had not been determined.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: A deputy district attorney in El Dorado County was arrested last year for driving under the influence. What was the outcome of that case?
Submitted by: Anonymous, Sacramento

ANSWER: Deputy District Attorney Gloria Mas was arrested in the early afternoon of July 25, 2011, at the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office after witnesses said she drove into the parking lot there, appearing to be intoxicated.

The former president of the El Dorado County Deputy Sheriff's Association has been sentenced to five years in state prison for embezzling more than $300,000 over six years from the association.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson announced the sentencing of Donald Philip Atkinson, a retired El Dorado County sheriff's sergeant. Atkinson pleaded no contest last month and was sentenced today in El Dorado Superior Court on three felony counts of embezzlement, elder fraud and perjury.

He was ordered by the court to pay more than $400,000 in restitution. While in state prison and on parole, Atkinson has agreed to pay $1,000 per month from his retirement fund to the victims.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

An El Dorado Hills woman remains in critical condition after her vehicle rolled off the Rubicon Trail, causing a 2-acre forest fire and stranding as many as 300 other Jeeps participating in the Jeepers Jamboree.

Rachel Anne Gray, 21, was part of a large caravan of off-road enthusiasts driving northbound on an El Dorado County road early Saturday evening when the 1961 Jeep Willy she was driving careened off an embankment near Cadillac Hill, said officer Dan Stark, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle overturned several times, ejecting Gray and a 34-year-old male passenger from Pilot Hill before catching fire, Stark said.

Both Gray and the passenger were transported to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, he said.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office held a press conference today to generate public awareness on the disappearance of 19-year old Linnea Lomax, who went missing one month ago today.

Sheriff John D'Agostini said there have been no new developments on the search. However, he said he believes that Lomax is still alive.

Lomax, 19, was last seen June 26 around 1 p.m. on the 800 block of Howe Avenue in Sacramento County. She is described as a white woman, 5 feet 2 inches tall, and 100 pounds. She was last seen wearing faded green pants and a dark hooded sweatshirt with the word "Sweden" on the front.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: In the '90s there was a killing committed by Douglas Randall Carlyle. The victim was David Dukes. Were these two friends and what were the details of the crime?
Submitted by: Michael, Roseville

ANSWER: Douglas Randall Carlyle was arrested in November 1999 at his home in the Arden Arcade area.

A North Highlands man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Sacramento to burglary of a U.S. Post Office and theft of U.S. mail from four post offices in El Dorado County.

According to court documents, 55-year-old Steven Joseph Rohner on March 26 of this year broke into the post office at 5221 Deer Valley Road in the community of Rescue and stole mail from the registered mail bags. On Dec. 31, 2011, he broke into a contract mail carrier truck and stole registered mail bags for the El Dorado, Diamond Springs and Shingle Springs post offices. Rohner stole more than $14,278, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

The case resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.

Rohner is to be sentenced Oct. 30 by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez.

Sixteen lightning-sparked fires have burned 78 acres in El Dorado and Amador counties.

What fire officials have dubbed the Amador Lightning Complex started at 11: 30 p.m. Sunday and was reported 20 percent contained this evening. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported that more than 1,800 lightning strikes hit the two counties in the past two days.

Cal Flre spokesman Daniel Berlant said the agency has responded to about 50 fires throughout Northern California as a result of lightning strikes Sunday and today. The largest single fire burned 75 acres near Copperopolis in Calaveras County.

The reward for information in the case of missing teen Linnea Lomax has increased to $10,000, according to volunteers with the search effort.

Lomax, a 19-year-old from Placerville, has been missing since she walked away from an out-patient mental health facility on Howe Avenue on June 26. Her family said she was getting treatment after having a mental breakdown while studying for finals at the University of California, Davis.

The most recent possible sightings were reported in Woodland, volunteers report, though she earlier was believed to have been seen near the American River Parkway in Sacramento.

Linnea is 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs about 100 pounds and has curly, long blonde hair. She was last seen wearing green pants, a black sweatshirt with "Sweden" in red letters and flip flops. She has no medication, wallet or phone with her.

On Thursday, her parents, Craig and Marianne Lomax, released an open letter to their daughter expressing their pain and asking that she send them notice that she is safe.

"We love you every second of every day and are praying for you," they wrote in the letter, which can be read in its entirety at www.sacbee.com/links. "We long for the day that we know you are safe."

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is seeking volunteers for its Sheriff's Team of Active Retirees, or STAR, program.

Qualified volunteers serve as "eyes and ears" in support of the department's overall community service efforts.

Those who qualify for the program will participate in an intensive training academy scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, Oct. 15-26, with selected days of afternoon training for driver proficiency evaluation, central dispatch visitation and accident-scene control. Following graduation from the training academy, volunteers will participate in post-academy field training conducted by experienced STAR members Oct. 29-Nov. 21 in countywide patrol assignments.

By Richard Chang
rchang@sacbee.com

A volunteer with the U.S. Forest Service was found late Sunday after going missing for over 24 hours.

Christopher Chaloupka, 65, of Shingle Springs was conducting maintenance work on trails in a mountainous region east of Placerville, when he was reported missing by his fellow volunteers Saturday evening. Various search and rescue personnel from local, state and federal agencies were involved in the search for the missing man.

According to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, Chaloupka was found "exhausted, dehydrated, and unable to walk" by a mutual aid search team at 9:05 p.m. on Sunday. Sgt. James Byers, with the sheriff's office, said that Chaloupka was transported by air to a forest service ranger station before being driven to the Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, which reported that Chaloupka had been treated and released.

Officials and volunteers are searching for a 60-year-old man who went missing Saturday evening east of Placerville.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies said the man was last seen around 5:30 p.m. near Wrights Lake. He was doing volunteer work on well-marked trails and was returning to his vehicle when he went missing.

Other workers at the site said they searched the trail after he did not arrive at the vehicle. They called the sheriff's department to ask for help around 6:30 p.m. Throughout the evening, over 30 deputies and El Dorado County Sherriff's Department volunteer search and rescue personnel searched the area.

In a move to enhance law enforcement on the Rubicon Trail, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office announced that a full-time deputy has been assigned to patrol the trail 40 hours a week during the off-highway-vehicle season.

In the past, most of the sheriff's staffing for trail patrol was provided by deputies on overtime and was limited by grant funds. Concerned that grant funding might decrease in the future, Sheriff John D'Agostini and county Supervisor Jack Sweeney, both four-wheel enthusiasts, worked to secure other sources of funding, such as the Infrastructure Mitigation Fund provided by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. When finalized, the fund will provide for continued seasonal patrol by two deputies and maintenance of their vehicles, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The 22-mile Rubicon Trail extends from Georgetown in El Dorado County to Tahoma at Lake Tahoe in Placer County. Originally used by California Indians and settlers crossing the Sierra, it now attracts off-road-vehicle enthusiasts worldwide.

Fewer stores are selling tobacco to minors in El Dorado County, according to a new survey.

Of 100 tobacco retailers surveyed, only 11 percent of stores sold tobacco products to undercover youth. In March of 2010, a similar survey resulted in a sales rate of 14.5 percent.

The survey, using 14-17 year olds from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department's Explorer Post 457, was designed to see how easily minors could purchase cigarettes and chewing tobacco from retailers.

Family and friends of a missing 19-year-old woman have updated their description of the clothes she was last seen wearing.

Linnea Lomax, a Placerville teen who has been missing in Sacramento County since Tuesday, was wearing a black sweatshirt with "Sweden" written in red on the front and green pants, her family said. She was wearing flip-flops.

She is described as 5-feet, 2-inches tall and weighing 100 pounds. She has long, curly blonde hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Acquaintances said Lomax suffered a breakdown while studying for finals at the University of California, Davis, where she is a freshman. She received in-patient treatment at a facility for 10 days, but disappeared in the middle of her first day of out-patient treatment.

About 75 game birds that appear to have been bred for cockfighting were discovered by El Dorado County Animal Services and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office at a Shingle Springs residence Tuesday.

Cockfighting is illegal throughout the country and California arrests can lead to jail time and fines up to $5,000 for a first offense and $25,000 for a second offense.

After a member of the public tipped them off about the possibility of a breeding ring, animal services and the sheriff's officials obtained a search warrant and investigated the property, where they found game birds with signs of cockfighting activity. They removed all of them.

As Independence Day approaches, state fire officials remind residents and visitors to El Dorado and Amador counties of fireworks restrictions.

Because of the risk of wildfires, an El Dorado County ordinance prohibits the use and possession of fireworks, including the "safe and sane" fireworks commonly sold in surrounding areas including Sacramento County.

The California State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, local fire agencies and law enforcement take the prohibition of fireworks seriously, said Chief Kelly Keenan of Cal Fire's Amador-El Dorado Unit. Anyone caught with fireworks in El Dorado County will have their fireworks confiscated. They also could be cited and face misdemeanor charges that include up to six months in jail, a $500 fine or both.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Former Placerville Mayor Dave Machado pleaded guilty today in El Dorado Superior Court to one felony and two misdemeanors in connection with charges related to his property dealings in the city.

Under a plea agreement, Machado will serve no jail time, and the felony count will be held in abeyance for the duration of probation. He was fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 960 hours of community service.

Machado's attorney read a statement in court, in which the former mayor admitted wrongdoing and stipulated that there was a factual basis for the charges he pleaded guilty to.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced that burn permits in areas within its jurisdiction in Amador County and the western slope of El Dorado County will be suspended July 2.

That leaves property owners with a little more than a week to burn residential debris piles on permissive burn days.

If it is unsafe to burn because of outdoor temperature, wind, terrain or other factors, fire officials advise waiting until winter to complete burning activities.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

A Placerville elementary school janitor today was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for gunning down the school's beloved principal.

John Luebbers, 45, was convicted April 24 of first degree murder in the February 2, 2011 shooting of his 20-year friend and golfing partner, Louisiana Schnell School principal Sam LaCara, 50.

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge James R. Wagoner imposed the mandatory sentence of 25 years to life on the murder count, plus a 25-year sentencing enhancement for use of a firearm during the killing.

A woman testified in El Dorado Superior Court today that Sacramento bail agent Kenneth Waters bailed her out of jail, expecting sex as partial payment.

The woman, whose identity is being withheld by the court, testified as Jane Doe in a preliminary hearing, saying that Waters asked how she looked when she called him from a jail holding cell seeking bail after she was arrested for DUI.

Waters bailed her out and later took her to a motel room where he performed oral sex on her, which she understood to be half-payment for bail, the woman testified.

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced today that fire restrictions are in effect for all public lands managed by the bureau's Mother Lode Field Office.

Included are approximately 230,000 acres of BLM-managed lands in Nevada, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Sacramento, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Sutter and Mariposa counties. Campers are urged to familiarize themselves with special restrictions before visiting public lands in these counties.

The restrictions prohibit all open fires on public lands because of extremely dry conditions, according to a news release.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: Did that chiropractor Todd Baldini ever answer for his embezzlement and fraud charges? Did he do any prison time? Was his partner, who disappeared, ever found and brought to justice?
Submitted by: Rosie, Rio Linda

ANSWER: According to a story in The Bee, chiropractor Todd Daniel Baldini of El Dorado Hills was arrested by state investigators in August 2004, accused of bilking automobile and workers' compensation insurers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of at least three years.

His partner, Reginald Martin "Marty" DePaoli of Carlsbad faced similar charges.

According to Sacramento Superior Court online records, Baldini and DePaoli pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of unlawful referrals under the state Insurance Code.

Felony counts of conspiracy and presenting false or fraudulent claims were dismissed.

The 2012 "fire season" will officially begin at 8 a.m. Monday, and fire officials urge residents, especially those living or recreating in rural areas, to use caution as the state enters a period of increased risk for wildfires.

The state's final snow survey May 1 found the statewide snowpack water content is only 40 percent of normal. From January though April, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection crews responded to more than 800 wildfires, nearly two and a half times the approximately 300 the agency responded to during the same period in 2011. This year's number also exceeds the five-year average of more than 600 wildfires for January through April, said Terri Mizuhara, spokeswoman for Cal Fire's Amador-El Dorado Unit.

So far this this month, she said, Cal Fire crews have responded to numerous small fires. Several in Amador and El Dorado counties have been escaped debris fires, Mizuhara said.

Daniel Chartraw, accused of multiple financial schemes that duped people of millions of dollars, entered a plea of not guilty in federal court today.

Chartraw, who had been a resident of El Dorado Hills, was indicted last week on 18 counts involving $2.4 million dollars in investments involving gold, dairies, movies and other allegedly bogus businesses.

Chartraw had been a fugitive until his arrest in Mexico in April.

He was scheduled to appear next before U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb.

The body of a skydiver has been recovered from the waters of Lake Tahoe.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office identified the man as 29-year-old Robert Ranieri of South Lake Tahoe. He was one of three skydivers who landed in the lake. The other two were rescued, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The Sheriff's Office began receiving calls about 8:45 a.m. regarding a skydiving accident near Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe. The callers reported that three skydivers had landed in the lake and all appeared to be in distress.

The number of drivers cited for using their cell phones while driving in April was up over a year earlier.

The California Highway Patrol and 265 local police agencies last month handed out more than 57,000 tickets to drivers who were using a hand-held cell phone or texting. The compares to 52,000 tickets issued in April 2011.

"Unfortunately, we're seeing that the problem of cell phone use for talking and texting while driving is not going away anytime soon," said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the state Office of Traffic Safety.

His office has conducted an advertising campaign that has included the "Don't Be a Distracted Driving Zombie" television commercials that emphasize how up to 37 percent of brain power needed for driving gets switched to cell phone talking.

Federal authorities have arrested fugitive Daniel Lee Chartraw, a one-time El Dorado Hills resident who is accused of perpetrating huge frauds.

Chartraw is being held without bail in Sacramento after appearing in federal court Wednesday.

The FBI has not yet issued a statement on Chartraw's arrest but documents filed to obtain an arrest warrant accuse him of fraudulently having obtained a $1 million investment for an Arizona mineral extraction company he did not represent.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department announced one arrest and the seizure of more than $236,000 in cash, assault weapons and marijuana plants in a drug trafficking case that extended to Florida, Virginia and North Carolina.

The Western El Dorado County Narcotics Enforcement Team began the drug trafficking investigation Friday and discovered that a suspect in North Carolina was under investigation by authorities in that state for sales of marijuana, according to a Sheriff's Office news release. Several other suspects in other states also were involved in the sales and distribution of marijuana that was being shipped from suspects in the El Dorado County area, officials said.

Over the next three days, narcotics enforcement team detectives investigated and served several search warrants at locations, including 3873 Destiny Lane in Shingle Springs and 1161 Kathy Lane north of Placerville.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Payne will be recognized June 2 by Mothers Against Drunk Driving at the organization's annual awards event in Sacramento.

Payne was named April 25 as a recipient of the MADD 23152 Pin and a California Office of Traffic Safety commemorative badge.

The number is the California vehicle code section for driving under the influence.

Payne, with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office for nearly four years, arrested 56 people for DUI in 2011, working out of the South Lake Tahoe Office.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and law enforcement agencies throughout the Sacramento region urge drivers to look twice for motorcyclists so all motorists can safely share the road.

California is home to more than 1 million licensed motorcycle riders, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.

"Whether a driver is at an intersection or changing lanes, they should always keep an eye out for motorcyclists," CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a written statement. "Because motorcycles have a much smaller profile than other vehicles, it can be difficult for drivers to judge the distance and speed of an approaching motorcycle."

In 2010, the most recent year for which data is available from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, 361 people died in California and nearly 11,000 others were injured as a result of a crash involving a motorcycle.

In addition to using safety equipment and riding gear, motorcyclists are encouraged to seek professional training before beginning to ride.

The CHP-administered California Motorcyclist Safety Program offers rider courses for beginning motorcyclists and for riders interested in improving their skills. The program operates more than 120 training sites statewide and expects to train 65,000 motorcyclists this year. For course information and locations, see the the website at http://www.ca-msp.org/.

A man with multiple convictions for driving under the influence has been indicted for murder in the September death of a South Lake Tahoe man.

An El Dorado County criminal grand jury on Thursday returned an indictment against Larry L. Halverson, 60, charging him with murder and other offenses in connection with the death 51-year-old Patrick Purnell, according to an El Dorado County District Attorney's Office news release. Purnell died when he was struck by a car driven by Halverson, who investigators allege was under the combined influence of alcohol and cocaine at the time.

Halverson did not immediately stop but returned to the scene later. At the time, authorities said, his driver's license was both revoked and suspended for prior DUI convictions.

The California Highway Patrol is continuing its investigation into a Saturday night roll-over crash in El Dorado Hills in which the driver suffered major injuries after being ejected from the vehicle.

The crash occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on Francisco Drive near Marina Park Drive. Liza Lombardi, 20, of El Dorado Hills was driving a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder. As she approached a slightly curved portion of the roadway, she failed to negotiate the curve. Her vehicle ran off the roadway and struck a roadway sign, a large boulder and two property fences before overturning several times and coming to rest on its side in the backyard of a residence, according to a CHP news release.

Authorities said Lombardi was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. She suffered major injuries and was taken by air ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center in Roseville.

Although hospitalized, Lombardi has been arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, according to the CHP.

A man fatally shot Saturday night near Union Valley Reservoir in El Dorado County has been identified by the county Sheriff's Office as Randall Gene Center, 25 of Colfax.

Sheriff's officials said Monday that circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation.

The Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at 8:10 p.m. Saturday from a camper in the Union Valley Reservoir area who reported that an individual had been shot. Officials said the location of the shooting was in an undeveloped, remote shoreline area with no road access and could be reached only by boat.

Sheriff's Department personnel responded to the area along with county fire and U.S. Forest Service units. When they arrived, they found the individuals involved in the incident, one of whom was dead.

A man was fatally shot Saturday night in an undeveloped, remote shoreline area of Union Valley Reservoir, El Dorado County Sheriff's officials said today.

Sgt. Jim Byers, in a report, said authorities received a call at 8:10 p.m. from a camper in the reservoir area. He said the area of the shooting has no access by road and can be reached only by boat.

Sheriff's officials responded to the site as well as El Dorado County fire and U.S. Forest service units, Byers reported. At the site, he said, they found the individuals involved in the case. One was dead.

By Marjie Lundstrom
mlundstrom@sacbee.com

Two nurses who worked at a Placerville nursing home have pleaded innocent to felony elder abuse charges in connection with the 2008 death of a Cameron Park woman.

Donna Darlene Palmer, 58, and Rebecca LeAn Smith, 38, appeared together in El Dorado County Superior Court on Tuesday to face charges by the California attorney general that their negligent care contributed to the death of 77-year-old Johnnie Esco, a Cameron Park home maker.

But the judge rejected a request by state prosecutors that the license of Palmer be revoked, pending the case's outcome. Palmer, a registered nurse, had been director of nursing at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville when Esco died in March 2008 after a short stay.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has scheduled public viewings this week of more than $50,000 worth of stolen property recovered last month during searches of a home and storage container in Pollock Pines.

On March 21, sheriff's detectives and members of the sheriff's special enforcement detail served search warrants at a residence in the 4500 block of Pony Express Trail and at a storage container in the 5600 block of Pony Express Trail.

Through several months of investigation, detectives had linked the storage container to occupants of the residence.

A Yolo County jury has convicted a Dunnigan man of kidnapping and engaging in sex with a 13-year-old El Dorado Hills girl.

Jason Stephen Sigur, 36, was convicted of 41 counts of kidnapping, sex with a child younger than 14, communicating with a minor for the purpose of committing a sex act, and burglary, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.

Sigur met the 13-year-old girl on an Internet chat room in August 2010. He immediately began visiting the girl in person at her El Dorado Hills home, sneaking in through a bedroom window while the victim's mother slept in another room, officials said.

Citing two incidents that occurred last weekend, El Dorado County Sheriff's search and rescue officials urge people venturing into the back country to carefully prepare and plan for their travels.

On Satruday, Robert Barber of San Diego had gone for a walk in the woods off Kiowa Street in South Lake Tahoe when a fast-moving weather front moved into the Tahoe area, creating blizzard-like conditions. About 2 p.m., Barber became disoriented because of almost zero visibility caused by the heavy snowfall, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

When he could not find his bearings, Barber called 911. Global positioning system technology was used to narrow down Barber's location, and search and rescue personnel, along with a search and rescue dog, located him about three-quarters of a mile from area residences.

An April Fool's day trick was played on a man suspected of robbing a South Lake Tahoe bank.

Since Thursday, police had been looking for a robber who held up a Wells Fargo bank branch in a South Lake Tahoe grocery store.

Police said the young man entered the Raley's supermarket in the Heavenly Village Shopping Center and demanded money from a Wells Fargo Bank teller. The robber did not display a weapon.

A veterinarian said she is optimistic that a horse (pictured) will make a full recovery after being rescued this afternoon by firefighters from Sacramento and El Dorado county.

About 1:30 p.m., the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District received a request from the UC Davis Veterinarian Emergency Response Team asking for assistance rescuing a horse that had fallen down an embankment and into a small creek near the southern El Dorado County community of Somerset. The horse had been at the bottom of the embankment for four hours and was on its side, unable to stand, according to a fire district news release.

Veterinarian Cheyl Ellis of the UC Davis response team reported that the horse was unable to make it up the embankment under its own power, but she thought the animal could survive with firefighters' help.

Searches of two locations in El Dorado County have turned up stolen property with an estimated value of more than $50,000, according to sheriff's officials.

Sheriff's detectives and members of the sheriff's special enforcement detail on Wednesday served search warrants at two locations in Pollock Pines. One was a residence in the 4500 block of Pony Express Trail, and the other, a storage container in the 5900 block of Pony Express Trail, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

Through several months of investigation, detectives linked the storage container to the residence's occupants, officials said. When they searched the storage container, detectives found stolen property belonging to four different victims of burglaries that occurred in the Placerville, Pollock Pines and Pleasant Valley areas. They also found approximately five pounds of dried and prepared marijuana, as well as items commonly used in methamphetamine production, according to the news release.

El Dorado County Sheriff's officials are searching for a man who held up a Morgan Chase Bank branch in El Dorado Hills Thursday.

According to officials the man, described as in his 20s or early 30s, entered the bank on Town Center Drive around 1 p.m. and approached a teller.

He told the teller he had a firearm, but it was not seen, and he left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The man was about five-feet-six-inches tall and wearing a black beanie with white vertical stripes, a white long-sleeved thermal shirt and black undershirt, light denim jeans and a teal fanny pack.

Photo caption: Bank surveillance image courtesy of El Dorado County Sheriff's Office

One person was injured and another killed this morning in a one-vehicle accident just north of Diamond Springs in El Dorado County.

Details on the accident reported to authorities at 3:25 a.m. were not immediately available. However, the California Highway Patrol said that the sports utility vehicle overturned on Highway 49 between Truck Street and the Weber Creek bridge.

One person was transported to the hospital and one died on the scene. Highway 49 was blocked until 5:56 a.m.

A Placerville airplane dealer was ordered today to forfeit illegal profits and to pay a fine for accepting apparent drug proceeds.

On Feb. 16, Stancil Enterprises Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court in Sacramento to charges against the firm, its owner and president, Joseph Stancil, and a salesman at the company, Daniel Mathis. Joesph Stancil spoke on behalf of Stancil Enterprises at the sentencing.

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr.ordered to the corporation to forfeit approximately $428,000 and to pay $500,000 in criminal fines for conspiring to aid and abet the structuring of financial transactions, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

The former head of the El Dorado County Deputy Sheriff's Association was arrested today and charged with embezzling from the organization and with stealing from a person who loaned him $100,000 that was not used for the designated purpose.

Donald Phillip Atkinson was arrested on 44 felony counts after an investigation conducted by the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office with assistance from the office of Attorney General Kamala Harris, which announced the arrest.

Prosecutors allege that Atkinson falsified documents and used funds from the deputies' group for his own benefit, including taking checks written for charitable purposes and using them for personal purposes.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating the family of two women who were found dead in their South Lake Tahoe residence Feb. 26.

What caused the death of twin sisters Patricia and Joan Miller, 73, has not been determined, but authorities said foul play has been ruled out. The cause and manner of death is still being investigated by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office and South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

The Sheriff's Office typically does not release the names of deceased individuals without first contacting family members, but officials said this case is unusual.

A fund has been set up for the children of a woman found dead in her Cameron Park home last month and the man accused of killing her.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies arrested Todd Winkler, 45, after he allegedly killed his wife, 37-year-old Rachel Winkler, after an argument in the couple's home Feb. 27. They had been having marital problems, according to sheriff's officials.

Authorities have not released Rachel Winkler's cause of death.

The couple's children - ages 4, 2, and 9 months - were home at the time of the attack. They are now in the custody of Rachel Winkler's father, Don Hatfield. Family and friends say Hatfield recently lost his wife to cancer and lost his home in the mortgage crisis a year ago.

The fund has been set up to help Hatfield, an artist, find a larger home where he can raise his three young grandchildren with the help of a nanny, according to friends and family.

Donations can be made to Wells Fargo bank account number 6990388875. The routing number is 121042882. For information about how to donate via PayPal, or about fundraising efforts, go here.

Authorities have identified the woman found dead in her Cameron Park home Monday as 37-year-old Rachel Winkler.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies found Winkler after responding to a request for a welfare check. At the home on the 3100 block of Aeronca Way they also found the victim's husband, 45-year-old Todd Winkler.

Detectives learned that the couple had been experiencing marital problems and had a dispute earlier in the day, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Department.

A Cameron Park man was arrested this evening after El Dorado County sheriff's detectives determined that a suspicious death at a Cameron Park residence was a homicide.

Todd Alan Winkler (pictured), 45, was arrested at 6 p.m. in connection with the death of a female at a home in the 3100 block of Aeronca Way. Winkler was booked into El Dorado County Jail, where he is being held without bail, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the home at 10:35 a.m. today after receiving a report that an individual was dead inside the residence.

By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@sacbee.com

A Placerville aircraft dealership that helped several alleged drug traffickers from Mexico conceal the purchases of six airplanes has agreed to forfeit more than $428,000 as part of a plea deal.

Appearing before U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. today, Joseph Stancil, president and owner of Stancil Enterprises Inc., admitted that his company and its employees helped buyers from Sinaloa, Baja California and Sonora, Mexico evade federal reporting requirements for large cash transactions.

Federal law requires U.S. businesses and banks to file a currency transaction report anytime a person makes a cash purchase of $10,000 or more.

A 20-year-old Pollock Pines man is in custody, accused of burglarizing a Placerville-area home twice in five days.

Travis Cunha (pictured) was arrested Feb. 9 and is being held without bail bail in El Dorado County Jail in Placerville, accused of first-degree burglary.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies responded to the 2700 block of Morts Court at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 26 to investigate a residential burglary. Someone had forced open a locked window and once inside, the burglar stole video gaming systems, video games, a compound bow, pellet rifle and jewelry, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

BREAKING NEWS ALERT via Carlos Alcala:

A Sacramento area couple missing since Sunday has been found alive many miles from the area where a search was being conducted in southern El Dorado County.

Mark Schroeder and Janette DeGrace were found Wednesday afternoon after Schroeder hiked miles through snow near Georgetown, in the northern part of the county, and guided a rescue helicopter to DeGrace, said Jim Jungsten, who had co-ordinated search efforts.

They were being transported to Auburn where Schroeder was expected to be treated for frostbite, Jungsten said.

A man who was apparently suffering delusions fired a handgun into the home of his sister in Galt, wounding his brother-in-law, police said.

The man then fled before being captured on Highway 50 about 8:30 a.m. near Bass Lake Road in El Dorado County.

Galt police said the incident began about 6:30 a.m. in the 900 block of Whitford Court in Galt when Lonnie Ray Orman, 41, went to his sister's home under the erroneous impression that his niece was being harmed.

One man is in custody and warrants have been issued for two other suspects in connection with recent burglaries in El Dorado Hills and neighboring communities.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies stopped a suspicious black Mercedes sedan about 10:45 p.m. Jan. 27 because it was being slowly driven through neighborhoods in the area of Mormon Island and Lake Ridge Oaks in El Dorado Hills, according to an El Dorado County Sheriff's Department news release.

Deputies determined that three men inside the vehicle were either on parole or probation. They were identified as Jacob Scott Mack and Mark Jon Williams, both 21, and Jason Earl Rogers, 30.

A man suspected of committing numerous residential burglaries in Granite Bay over the past few months has been arrested.

Jason Earl Rogers (pictured), 30, of Citrus Heights, was booked into Placer County Jail today on suspicion of residential burglary and possession of stolen property. He was originally arrested by El Dorado County sheriff's detectives, who discovered a large amount of stolen property during a search of his home Feb. 2, according to a Placer County Sheriff's Office news release.

The El Dorado County detectives were looking for a a burglar who had kicked in the front doors of dozens of homes and stolen jewelry. Placer County detectives joined the search of Rogers' home and found property belonging to Granite Bay victims.

Because of the large number of cases in Placer County, Rogers was extradited today, officials said. He is being held on a no-bail parole hold.

A Santa Barbara County man was sentenced today in federal court in Sacramento for his involvement in marijuana growing operations in El Dorado County.

Ryan Louis Ennis, 39, of Buellton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to nine years for conspiring to cultivate marijuana.

In sentencing, Judge Mendez described Ennis as the leader and financial backer of a sophisticated, well-funded marijuana operation, saying that he provided marijuana to distributors on the East Coast, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

A coroner's investigation of a of a man's death in a rural area of of El Dorado County turned up a store of explosive materials.

About 11:30 a.m. Friday, El Dorado County sheriff's deputies were called to the 2300 block of Sandridge Road in the southern part of the county regarding a report that a man had been found dead in his driveway. Deputies confirmed that Donald Smith, 69, appeared to have died of natural causes, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. As part of the coroner's investigation, deputies then undertook to inventory and ensure safe keeping of Smith's property.

While checking a shop located a ways from the main residence, deputies found items they believed to be of a suspicious nature. They summoned the sheriff's bomb squad, and technicians confirmed that the items were explosive ordnance and explosive compounds.

South Lake Tahoe police are looking for a man who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank inside a Raley's store this morning.

About 11:25 a.m., a man walked up to the bank teller inside the Raley's at 4010 Lake Tahoe Blvd. and demanded cash, according to a Police Department news release. He didn't claim to have a weapon and none was seen during the robbery, police said.

The man took an undisclosed amount of cash, then walked away from the bank and out of Raley's. He was last seen walking east from the shopping center toward the area of Heavenly Village Way and Bellamy Court.

Volunteers with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Team of Active Retirees -- STAR -- will offer fingerprint service for children in keeping with the National Child Safety Council's Young People Prints.

The services will be provided free of charge for children and teenagers younger than 18 at the Sheriff's Town Center substation, 4354 Town Center Blvd., Suite 112, El Dorado Hills. A parent or legal guardian must accompany the child.

To ensure prompt service, call (530) 642-4728 or (916) 933-2578 to find out when a volunteer will be available. The substation's normal office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Walk-ins are welcome.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A year after taking office El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini reported that his office issued nearly four times as many concealed weapons permits in 2011 as in the previous year.

The total number of permits was 844, according to a statement by D'Agostini issued by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.

The office issued 217 permits in 2010, just over a fourth of the amount for 2011.

One person was arrested and nine others received notices to appear in court during a recent Contractors State License Board sting operation in Amador County.

The undercover operation was conducted Friday at a Pine Grove home by the board's Statewide Investigative Fraud Team and investigators from the Amador County District Attorney's Office.

Investigators, posing as homeowners, sought bids for general construction and painting projects at a multievel house on 7 acres. The 10 people who bid more than the legal threshold of $500 for labor and materials will be required to appear in court for contracting without a license, according to a Contractors State License Board news release. They also face an additional misdemeanor charge for illegal advertising.

A Sacramento man and two juveniles have been arrested in connection with an El Dorado Hills burglary.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies were called to the Bridlewood subdivision at 4:40 p.m. Jan. 11 regarding a report of several individuals jumping over the fences of residences.

Residents in the area told deputies that three males wearing dark clothing and gloves were roaming the area. When residents approached the suspicious-looking individuals and told them they were going to call the Sheriff's Office, the three ran from the area, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

A hunter reported missing Tuesday