crime

Connecting with victims and witnesses after a crime is not just the job of law enforcement, its also the job of composite sketch artists.

Imagine talking to a child who just witnessed a horrific crime, a woman who has just been raped, or a man who beaten up as another man murdered, and needing them to remember the face of the perpetrator.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A 21-year-old Sacramento man is currently in the El Dorado County Jail on charges of robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime and DUI after allegedly stealing beer from the 7-11 store on Pioneer Trail.

On March 11, Craig Joseph Cumbra is suspected of entering the store and leaving with beer he hadn't paid for. The store clerk tried to stop Cumbra from driving away by standing in front of his vehicle. The suspect drove away with the clerk on the hood. The clerk jumped off as the car left the parking lot.

South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David held her second "Community Conversation" on Wednesday, opening the avenues of conversation between government and the public. This time Councilmember Brooke Laine joined her.

During the first such meeting in January the crowd got too big for the chosen area, Peet's Coffee, so this month they moved to the SLT Senior Center. Everyone attending agreed the center was much more conducive to good conversation.

"I thought it went really well," said Wendy. "I really appreciate the respect everyone shows for each other and opinions can be shared freely."

LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - Sunday's suspicious death in Tahoma has officially been ruled a homicide by El Dorado County Sheriff’s Detectives.

Jeremy David Virgo, 47, was arrested for murder after a chase ensued after deputies from El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO) responded to shots being fired in the area of Timber Wolf Drive and Alder Street in the West Shore community of Tahoma.

Human Trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others; a modern day form of slavery. It is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 20.9 million people around the world

And its happening outside our door.

A former motel maintenance worker at a South Lake Tahoe motel has been sentenced to 183 years to life for the brutal sexual assault of a 22-year-old Macedonian exchange student in 2015.

Manuel Ovidio Ramos-Munoz was found guilty in November, 2017 on seven felony counts, including kidnapping for the purpose of committing a sexual assault, as well as six additional counts and numerous special allegations relating to the subsequent sexual assault of the victim.

It was a very busy holiday weekend in South Lake Tahoe, with hotels, vacation homes and the slopes full of revelers, along with the thousands of attendees at the three-day music festival, SnowGlobe.

"Instead of trying to find a way to eliminate the homeless, we now have the ability to change homelessness with a new approach - and it is working," said El Dorado County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Macras.

Two people face drug trafficking and transportation charges after deputies recovered more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine and around a half pound of heroin during a traffic stop early Wednesday morning, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.

Arrested were Kimberly Ann Lopes, 36, and Danny Lyle Jensen II, 38, both of Las Vegas. Each face two level 3 charges of trafficking controlled substances, 1 count each of transportation of controlled substances, and 1 count each of possession of controlled substances for sales.

A Gardnerville man was arrested on charges of Domestic Battery with Substantial Bodily Harm and Eluding a Peace Officer after he allegedly wheeled in a woman with major injuries into the Carson Valley Medical Center on November 19 2017.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department has issued a press release after South Tahoe Now broke the story on November 13 concerning the recovery of two bodies in Fallen Leaf Lake.

Here is an updated statement from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office:

Bruce’s Legacy, an underwater search and recovery team from Wisconsin, came to Fallen Leaf Lake to assist The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office with a deep water search for two missing people.

The shooting in Kings Beach on November 4 has been ruled a murder-suicide by the Placer County Sheriff's Office.

Their preliminary investigation has determined that 64-year-old Scott A. Kotter, manager of the Northwood Pines Motel in Kings Beach, shot and killed Isabelle C. Gallo, 34, a female tenant, before turning the gun on himself.

Since the recent passage of many soft on crime laws like Propositions 47 and 57,
California has seen a troubling trend of an increase in violent crimes. This disturbing surge in violent crimes has seen a dramatic increase in domestic violence homicides across the Sacramento Region.

A 28-year-old woman is dead and her fiance has been hospitalized after a shooting in Shingle Springs Wednesday evening.

On October 4, 2017 at approximately 5:47 p.m., deputies from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO) responded to multiple reports of a shooting near the intersection of Mother Lode Drive and Sunset Lane.

They discovered two people shot at the scene. One of them, Bay Area resident Jessica Lyn Ball, was pronounced dead at the scene. A male, who was later determined to be her fiance, suffered a single gunshot would and was transported to a local hospital.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Three local employees were cited by a recent decoy operation to catch people selling alcohol to minors.

On September 28, 2017, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, through a grant form the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), conducted the minor decoy operation where minors under their supervision attempted to purchase alcohol from 19 different establishments.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department made 53 arrests out of the 540 calls they responded to between September 4-18, 2017.

Here are two of those arrests with information provided by SLT Lt. David Stevenson:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at time of story.

Some of those recently added to last week's log:

8/30

Since August 24 there have been 13 burglaries with losses or attempted burglaries from unlocked cars in the lower Kingsbury and Stateline area of the South Shore. The crimes have been occurring in the dark hours to vehicles parked in driveways and on the street.

The losses include cash, wallets, a checkbook and and iPad. One witness reported seeing a white male 5’10, wearing shorts and a tee shirt wearing a baseball cap, carrying a backpack, trying to open a car door on a surveillance recording.

Four brothers from San Francisco have been arrested in connection with the theft of an estimated $125,000 worth high-end mountain bikes from Truckee.

Starting in June, 2017, the Truckee Police Department began receiving theft reports of high-end mountain bikes from various locations in Truckee. The most common scenario happened with bikes on vehicle racks that were secured with the locking mechanism of the rack or a cable style lock.

Many South Lake Tahoe residents love their dogs. Most Police Officers love dogs too. I’ve heard it said by someone not so long ago…. “The more people I meet, the more I love dogs!” We at the police department understand and share in this fondness; however, we receive weekly complaints from community members regarding dogs in public parks, and most frequently dogs at the Live-at-Lakeview events. The South Lake Tahoe City Code (SLTCC), does not allow dogs, even on a leash, to be in our public parks (SLTCC §8.05.130).

8/13/17 7:10 p.m. update: The witnesses in the photo have been identified but DCSO is still looking for the identity of the two male suspects.

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One man was stabbed and two other men are being sought after an altercation led to a stabbing outside Harrah's Tahoe on Sunday, August 13 at about 3:10 a.m.

Deputies from Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) were called to the Stateline casino valet area on a report of a stabbing and robbery. When they arrived they found the unidentified man with a serious stab wound.

Deputies from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO) arrested two juveniles in Placerville on August 8 after a robbery at the Payless Shoe Store on Missouri Flat Road.

Just before 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, the two allegedly entered the store and took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register. One of the two males had a knife. They then fled on foot.

A short time after the deputies located the teens at In-N-Out Burger and they were arrested.

According to EDSO, witnesses and the victim identified the teens as those who committed the crime as did video surveillance.

The discharge of firearms on public lands has been determined the cause of Mariposa County's Detwiler Fire which has destroyed 63 homes, 67 minor structures and 1 commercial building since starting July 16, 2017.

21 other homes and buildings were damaged.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) investigators said specifics are still under investigation.

The Detwiler Fire has burned 81,826 acres and was 97 percent contained as of 7:00 a.m. Saturday, August 5.

By proclamation of the County Board of Supervisors, El Dorado County celebrated Probation Services Week this week, July 17 – July 21, 2017. As the Chief Probation Officer in El Dorado County, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on the critical work probation does in our criminal justice system and say thank you to all the men and women of my department who work tirelessly to protect our communities, reduce recidivism, restore victims, promote healthy families, and live the vision of our department: Safe Communities Through Changed Lives.