Check of South Lake Tahoe Sex Offenders Yields Four Arrests

On Tuesday, April 29th, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department conducted a series of compliance checks regarding local sex registrants. Six locations were checked against the addresses disclosed by sex registrants as the place where they live. Four persons were contacted during this sweep, and four arrests were made.

Gary Meyer, a 68 year old sex registrant, was arrested for not living at his registered address (a felony). Charles Langley, a 47 year old sex registrant, was arrested for felony charges of possessing prescription pills and methamphetamine, as well as a misdemeanor charge of possessing a meth pipe. A third registrant, 28 year old Merlin Griffiths, was taken into custody for misdemeanor charge of unlawful possession of weapons and a misdemeanor violation of probation. During the search of another sex registrant’s residence (who was not found to be in violation), 31 year old Jose Mariscal, attempted to obstruct officers from completing the search. Mariscal was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor resisting, delaying or obstructing officers.

The compliance checks prompted two additional sex offenders to promptly report to the SLTPD and update their information. Of all the locations visited, one registrant was found to be in compliance. A physical check of the locations sex registrants list as their address is part of the South Lake Tahoe Police practice to ensure compliance and community safety. SLTPD regularly receives community tips regarding sex registrants. These community tips enable law enforcement to more accurately monitor registrants in the city.