firearms

Forest officials everywhere are saying: Recreate Responsibly.

Despite large campaigns about fire restrictions and "pack it in pack it out," many visitors to the Eldorado National Forest are not acting responsibly.

Fire and law enforcement officers had another busy weekend contacting a record numbers of visitors about campfires they had made that are not allowed under the current fire restrictions in the Eldorado National Forest.

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 and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Last Week's Report:

11/13

1:45 a.m. - Bear Report - 7th Ave, Tahoma - BEAR REPORT

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 and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Last Week's Report:

10/16

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) received a call of shots fired near the corner of Julie Lane and B Street Thursday evening. Upon arrival, officers discovered that 23-year-old Henry Flores Rojas had allegedly used a baseball bat on the windows of a car where his ex-girlfriend and their one-year-old child were seeking safety.

The El Dorado County (EDC) District Attorney's Office recently helped with a state-wide investigation focused on offenders operating a criminal enterprise from both inside and outside state prisons.

Sixteen members and associates of a prison-based gang have been charged after a long-running investigation into drug trafficking and murders inside and outside of California’s prisons.

The EDC DA office's investigative division has the kind of highly trained and experienced detectives that are often called in to help with operations of this magnitude.

Douglas County has made it clear to the State of Nevada they won't stand for any legislation that exceeds federal firearm transfer requirements. Their reaction came after Governor Steve Sisolak signed SB 143, a bill that would require background checks on gun sales, on February 15, 2019.

After a six-month investigation into drug transactions in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the El Dorado Sheriff's Department Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants at two locations in South Lake Tahoe on August 23, 2017. Large amounts of heroin, methamphetamine and approximately 12 firearms were seized in the search. Lynwood Towle, Shawn German, Melissa Griffis, Paul Ryan, and Krystal Long were all arrested, charged, and eventually pleaded guilty to various charges stemming from those searches.

A major drug ring that stretched from Mexico into El Dorado and Placer Counties and beyond was broken up with the arrest, conviction and sentencing of Francisco Felix, 45, of Mountain House on July 13, 2018.

Felix will be in prison for up to 20 years for his role in leading a large, multi-defendant drug-trafficking conspiracy that moved significant quantities of methamphetamine from Mexico into California and throughout the United States, and that controlled at least three large marijuana grows in the Central Valley of California, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

It has been a very tough and tragic week, with the passing of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, and because of their suicides and a report released by the CDC, NAMI ((National Alliance on Mental Illness) El Dorado County is seeing an increase in phone calls from the community.

Suicide rates have been rising in nearly every state, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is the 10th leading cause of death and is one of just three leading causes that are on the rise (behind diseases of the heart and Cerebrovascular diseases).

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) has arrested a 34-year-old local man on charges stemming from an incident March 12 where he is suspected of firing a shotgun at his roommate.

At about 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, SLTPD dispatch received a 911 call of a possible disturbance and gunshot in the 3700 block of Aspen Avenue. Officers arrived and attempted to located the source of the gunshot. The blocked off Aspen Avenue hear Wildwood Avenue in the process.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - On March 7, 2018 after a two week trial, a South Lake Tahoe jury convicted Ignacio Madrigal Arizaga of Galt, California of Attempted Murder; Shooting at an Occupied Vehicle; Illegal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and, Illegal Possession of Ammo by a Convicted Felon.

He faces 41 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced on April 2, 2018.

A Cameron Park man will be spending the rest of his life in prison after he was sentenced this week after being found guilty of crimes including
criminal threats, domestic violence, multiple counts of assault with a firearm on a peace officer and special allegation(s) related to the use of a firearm and inflicting great bodily Injury on a peace officer in the line of duty.

Michael Allen Hoffer, 47, was sentenced twice, once for 45 years and 4 months and the other for consecutive 25 years to life.

12/29/17 10:45PM Update: Press releases and letters between Sheriff D'Agostini and Robert D. Wilson, California Deputy Attorney General were exchanged today after South Tahoe Now first posted this story. The Sheriff has suggested that the Department of Justice has not been honest with their response to the media about the situation.

The man accused of firing shots into the home of Carson City Judge John Tatro, setting up an explosive device outside the home and sending a threatening Christmas card has died, Carson City law officials confirm.

John Aston, 74, died Thursday morning, 6:25 a.m. in the infirmary at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center. News of his death has been confirmed by the Carson City Sheriff's Office.

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office Coroner responded. An autopsy will be scheduled per NRS 209.3815. Next of kin have been notified.

In their 77th year of providing scouting opportunities to boys in the Carson City and Carson Valley area, Boy Scout Troop 33 is hosting their 4th annual Send A Scout to Camp Car and Truck Show on Saturday, August 12 at Fuji Park in Carson City from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Participants can either pre-register or sign up the day of the event. Cost is $40. Each participant will get a T-shirt, one lunch meal ticket, and a dash plaque.

A lengthy, multi-agency gang investigation in the Reno and Stockton areas led to the arrest of 23 people, including one correctional officer on Wednesday, April 12, 2017.

A 12-year-old student was arrested on Thursday evening after making threats to bring a gun to Carson Valley Middle School on Friday February 17 and “shoot up the school.”

At 7:00 p.m. Thursday, February 16, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office received a call after a concerned parent intercepted the threatening message sent to their child. Deputies responded to the Indian Hills residence of the reporting party and met with the parent to examine the phone in which the threat was received.

Curt Amacker, 57, passed away on Sunday, December 25, 2016 at Barton Hospital in South Lake Tahoe.

Born July 23, 1959, in Carson City, Nevada, Curt lived in South Lake Tahoe his entire life, other than a short time spent attending tech school in Phoenix, Arizona.

Curt was an avid outdoorsman who loved the mountains, riding ATVs and Snowmobiles, shooting his prized firearms, and sitting around a bonfire visiting with his friends and family.

Voters have narrowly approved an initiative to tighten gun background checks in Nevada. Backers of Question 1 said they wanted to close the loopholes in the current law by requiring background checks through a licensed gun dealer when most firearms change hands, including personal and online sales.

The vote totals were:
Yes - 558,586
No - 548,685

Question 2, the legalization of marijuana
Yes - 602,400
No - 503,615

Larry Ford will present “Virgil Earp: The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday, July 20, at 6:30 pm.

Location

A Stockton, Calif., man was arrested in South Lake Tahoe on May 14 after allegedly being found with rifles modified to act like fully automatic machine guns, which is a felony.

Justin Wigley, 31, was arrested after officers from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department were investigating a case involving a gun being discharged at a motel in the 1100 block of Emerald Bay Road.

Sheriff Ron Pierini has announced the recent graduation of two Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies from the State of Nevada Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Law Enforcement Academy.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Jose Guerra and Bruce Jacobsen graduated from the academy on Thursday, May 12 after attending the academy at the State of Nevada Stewart Training Facility in Carson City for four months.

Benjamin Cunha, 33, of Placerville, was sentenced Tuesday, February 23, 2016 to five years in prison for arson after being found guilty of setting at least 30 wildland fires during the summers of 2006 and 2007.

Two of these fires burned onto federal land. Cunha indicated that his motivation for setting the fires was to overcome boredom, to earn overtime pay for fighting the fires, and to impress his peers.

United States District Judge John A. Mendez also ordered Cunha to pay $246,862 in restitution to Cal Fire, his former employer.

Dennis Wright, Jr of Amador County has been identified as the man who died after being shot Saturday night at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe.