Gang sweep in El Dorado County

Four people were arrested earlier this week in El Dorado County when the El Dorado Gang Enforcement Detail (EDGE) contacted several gang members at their homes.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, El Dorado County Probation, El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, and the South Lake Tahoe Police Department participated in the sweep on May 18.

At about 1:00 p.m., EDGE Officers went to an apartment off of Schnell School Road in Placerville to serve an arrest warrant on 42 year-old Charles Sinclair. At the residence, several BB guns were recovered. All had been modified to look like real firearms. Sinclair was taken into custody for the warrant and transported to the El Dorado County Jail. He has since bailed out.

Fabio Soto, 30, was contacted by EDGE officers at his residence in the 4700 block of Patterson Drive in Diamond Springs at 3 p.m.. During a search, illegal drugs were located. Soto was arrested for possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale, and felonious criminal conduct by a gang member. He is still in custody at the Jail with bail set at $132,500.

At 4 p.m., Jessie Mercado, 33, was contacted by EDGE Officers in his room at an apartment complex in the 300 block of Pleasant Valley Road in Diamond Springs. Mercado was arrested and booked into the County Jail on possession of narcotics and paraphernalia charges. He is still in custody with bail set at $9,000.

EDGE Officers went to a residence in the 3000 block of Omo Ranch Road in Mount Aukum at 7 p.m. to serve an arrest warrant on 35 year-old Dana Franklin. On their arrival, Franklin fled from the barn on foot. Deputies tracked Franklin to a neighbor’s storage unit. Inside the unit they found Franklin and took him into custody without incident. He was transported and booked into the El Dorado County Jail where he is still in custody without bail.