South Lake Tahoe drive-by shooting suspect arrested on multiple felony charges

The hunt is over for the suspect in the October 14 drive-by shooting in South Lake Tahoe that sent a 19-year-old man to the hospital.

Samuel Tovar, 43, was arrested after a high-risk search warrant was served at 816 San Francisco Avenue at 10 p.m. Friday, October 4. Inside they found Tovar, who had been avoiding law enforcement since the shooting.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department SWAT Team, with the assistance of the SLEDNET task force and the Crisis Negotiation Team all responded to the Al Tahoe apartment where they also found a .40 caliber Glock handgun which is believed to be the weapon used in the drive-by shooting. Also located was a 5.56x45mm caliber SKS semi-automatic assault rifle.

Tovar has been booked into the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe with a $1 million bail. His booking is under the name of Luis Eladio Perez.

The suspect is a felon, who has a violent criminal history, and is prohibited by law from possessing firearms or ammunition.

The investigation began almost two months ago, after a 19 year old South Lake Tahoe man was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting on Spruce Avenue, in the area of Ski Run Boulevard. The victim had been standing among a small group of friends on the side of the road when a pick-up truck, driven by the suspect, drove up to their location and displayed a handgun. As the group of people began to flee, the suspect fired one round through an open passenger window. The victim was shot in the leg and made his way to the hospital, where police were notified. The investigation with regard to the possibility of this crime being gang related is still in progress.