Names released in officer involved shooting in South Lake Tahoe

Submitted by paula on Tue, 11/06/2018 - 7:42pm

The names of the two South Lake Tahoe police detectives involved in last Monday's officer involved shooting have been released.

On Monday, October 29, 2018, detectives from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) were following-up on an armed robbery case from earlier in the month. The suspect, 34-year-old Billy Jo Johnson, was wanted for attempted armed robbery at a store on Pioneer Trail and a stolen vehicle from a home on William Avenue in South Lake Tahoe. He was also a suspect in an armed robbery in Carson City and a home invasion burglary in Douglas County. There were warrants for Johnson's arrest from all three jurisdictions.

Detectives Jake Herminghaus and Ross Molesworth found out Johnson might be in the Markleeville area and were on their way there over SR89/Luther Pass when they saw Johnson riding his motorcycle in the opposite direction.

As detectives started to follow Johnson he started shooting at them. That led detectives on a high-speed chase on SR 89, west onto Highway 50 and then finally onto North Upper Truckee Road. Johnson stopped near the intersection and took off on foot with the detectives chasing him.

During that chase, Johnson was shot by the detectives.

Lake Valley Fire and Cal Tahoe JPA EMS Ambulance responded, however, Johnson died at the scene. No witnesses or officers were injured during this incident.

Both detectives are long time employees of SLTPD, Herminghaus is a 14-year veteran and Molesworth has been with them for 18 years.

Pursuant to the El Dorado County Critical Incident Protocol, a multi-agency Investigative Team was assembled to conduct a thorough investigation into the events that led to the fatal shooting of Johnson. The El Dorado Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol and the El Dorado District Attorney’s Office are all participants in this on-going investigation.

As is standard practice, both detectives have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.