Tuolumne County Sheriff Office press release re: Human remains identified

On 10/27/14 the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s recovered human remains from New Melones Resevoir.  An autopsy was conducted, Detectives and members of the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department have been working to identify the deceased.

  The deceased has been positively identified as, seventy four year old, Wayne Morris Fry, of Tracy CA.  Mr.  Fry was reported missing in April of 1995, after he fell out of a boat on New Melones and presumably drowned.  His body was not recovered  and the case has remained open since April of 1995.

  The case investigation has concluded and his death has been ruled accidental.

Tuolumne County Sheriff press release re: Body found in Lake Tulloch identified

Deceased: Jaspar,William,Ray

Date of Death:  10/28/14

Location: Lake Tulloch

                   Tuolumne County

Information:

  A forensic autopsy was conducted on the deceased, William Jaspar,  The pathologist concluded the cause of death was drowning with a contributing factor of a massive stroke.  It appears Mr. Jaspar suffered a massive stroke which caused him to fall into the water.   The pathologist also concluded had Mr. Jaspar not drowned the stroke would have been fatal within several minutes.

Scott Johnson

PIO

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office

Tuolumne Sheriff Dept Press release re: phone scam

On 03-18-14, at about 1030 hrs, the Sheriff’s Office received the report of a possible phone scam. A Deputy responded and spoke with the victim, who said she had received a phone call from a heavily accented male identifying himself as being with the “Attorney Generals Office.” He stated the victim owed $3,000.00 dollars and had to pay it with in the hour or she would be arrested by the Sheriff’s Office. The male knew personal information and required her to pay the debt, by credit/debit card immediately, or a warrant would be issued and she would be arrested. The male gave a call back number of 916-414-8366. The victim was worried and spoke with her boyfriend about getting the money.

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office press release re: car jacking

     On 02-20-14, at 0800 hrs, the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call in which the Victim said her car had been stolen. Deputies responded to the area of Cabezut and Greenly Road, where they met with the Victim.

     The Victim said the suspect, later identified as Victoria Zelmer, was waving her arms and appeared in of need help. The Victim stopped, got out of the car, and approached Zelmer. Zelmer got into the Victim’s car and drove off.

     Zelmer drove into the city of Sonora where she got out of the car and walked off, leaving the car in the roadway. The Sonora Police Department was sent to the report of the car being parked in the roadway and a female acting strange. Zelmer was located and detained by Sonora PD. Sheriff’s Deputies responded and confirmed Zelmer was the one who took the car from the Victim. Zelmer was arrested for 215 P.C. (carjacking) and booked into the county jail. The car was returned to the Victim.     

Tuolumne County Sheriff Dept press release re: Hults Indictment

Tuolumne Narcotics Team marijuana raid nets 16,055 plants

The Tuolumne Narcotics Team (TNT) with the assistance of Sheriff’s Office personnel, United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Game, State Parole, Sonora Police, and personnel from CAMP (campaign against marijuana planting) conducted three days of marijuana eradication efforts from public lands within Tuolumne County. A total of five marijuana gardens were raided and 16,055 marijuana plants were eradicated. Evidence in the gardens indicated that all of the grows were maintained by Mexican National Drug Cartels. Ammunition and evidence of the presence of firearms were located in every grow site. One AK-47 rifle with a 30 round magazine was also discovered in a grow site.

Eradication efforts will continue throughout Tuolumne County during the growing season which usually concludes by the end of October for outdoor marijuana cultivation.

 

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office ****Press Release**** Arrest

     Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office Detectives in a joint investigation with the Modesto Police Department developed information that Richard Larry Jones 54 yr. was sharing child pornography via the internet. With the shared information a search warrant was obtained for Jones house.

     On 07-09-13, at about 1050 hrs, TCSO and MPD Detectives served a search warrant at Jones East Sonora home. Several items relating to the crime were located. Richard Jones was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography and booked into the County Jail.

     Sheriff Mele said, “Even with limited resources my personnel are still working hard to protect the community.”

 

Thank you,

Sgt. James Oliver

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office  

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office ****Press Release**** Lightning Strike

     On 07-01-13, at about 3:52 pm the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch center received a call for an elderly female who was struck by lightning, in a campground near the Kennedy Meadows area. The female was unconscious and CPR was in progress. Cal Fire and Ambulance personnel were dispatched to assist. When they arrived it was determined the female was deceased.

     A Tuolumne County Sheriff Coroner was dispatched to handle the situation. The coroner discovered the deceased, identified as Christine Ann Adrian, 66 yrs old, of Sonora was not struck by lightning. There were no obvious entry or exit wounds that would be associated with being hit by lightning.

     Family members reported the lightning struck the trees above their camp site. Other family members were next to Adrian at the time and were not affected. An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death.

    

Thank you,

Sgt. James Oliver

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office 

Tuolumne County Sheriff Office press release re:Jamestown Fire

     On June 23, 2013, around 2:42 in the morning, dispatch advised patrol units of a reported structure fire on 7^th Street in Jamestown.  Cpl. Dickson, Dep. Christiansen, and Dep. Newman were the first to arrive in the area; followed by Dep. Imlach, Dep. Speers, and Sgt. Bogolea.

     The first Deputies to arrive on scene found a trailer completely on fire. The fire was spreading to the nearby duplex with power lines down and arcing. Cpl. Dickson, Dep. Christiansen, and Dep. Newman immediately began evacuating the duplex closest to the original fire. As they did so, the back wall of the duplex became engulfed with flames, filling the apartments with smoke. Cpl. Dickson, Dep. Christiansen, and Dep. Newman were able to locate and evacuate all of the occupants. Many of the occupants had been asleep and were completely unaware the building was on fire. 

Tuolumne County Sheriff press release re: pursuit

On 06-10-13, at about 6 p.m, Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to the report of a disturbance in the Crystal Falls Area. The disturbance was described as yelling between males and females and loud noises. (There was no description on what the noises were.) When the Deputies arrived, the disturbance was over and the parties involved had left the area. Deputies spoke with some residents in the area who gave a name of one of the subjects involved as Andrew Labriola 22, who had a felony warrant. The residents also said Labriola left in a green Ford F150 pickup. 

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office ****Press Release**** re: Big Oak Flat Fire

     On 06-09-13, at about 0045 hrs, Deputy Gempler was dispatched to the report of a fire on Black Road, in Big Oak Flat. When Deputy Gempler arrived, he saw a couple of outbuildings on fire and trees above a house on fire. Fire personnel had not yet arrived, so Deputy Gempler approached the house, which was under the flaming trees, and made contact with an elderly female, who Deputy Gempler helped to safety. Deputy Gempler returned to the area to check the occupants of an additional house when he heard a couple of “Pops.”  Deputy Gempler did not identify the pops as gunshots due to the arriving fire personnel, radio traffic, and the natural sounds of fire burning.

Tuolumne County Sheriff press release re: Child Abuse Arrest

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office

****Press Release****

Child Abuse Arrest

            On June 1, 2013, at about 6p.m, Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 911 call saying that a 4 month old male was not breathing and was turning blue. An ambulance was dispatched and the child was taken to Sonora Regional Medical Center for care.

            While trying to stabilize the child, SRMC Staff noted bleeding on the brain and suspected child abuse as the cause. A Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the hospital and spoke with the parents and hospital staff. The baby was in critical condition and was transported to the bay area for specialized care. Sheriff’s Detectives responded for further investigation.

On June 5, 2013, after days of interviews and consulting with medical staff, the baby’s father SHAHEED JAMEEL HASSAN WILLIAMS (DOB: 10-28-87) was arrested and booked into Tuolumne County Jail for felony Child Abuse.  

The child remains in critical condition. No further information is available at this time due to the continuing investigation.   

Thank you,

Sgt. James Oliver

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office 

Tuolumne County Sheriff press release re: found body to be that of missing 91 year old man

            On 05-25-13, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office received a Silver Alert from CHP, which was generated by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office. The alert was for a missing elderly adult with the beginning stage of dementia. There was no known destination; the information was to be on the look out for the missing person and if located, stop, and inform Stanislaus County.

            On 05-27-13, at about 0900 hrs, Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a call from a citizen who reported finding a body while wood cutting in the forest. A Patrol Deputy and Sheriff’s Coroner responded to a location off of forest road 3N01 between Cotton Wood Rd and the Long Barn Area. 

Drowning South Lake Tulloch - Sheriff Dept press release

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office

****Press Release****

Drowning, South Shore Tulloch Lake

             On 05-18-13, at about 1838 hrs, The Sheriff’s Office received a call from South Shore Tulloch, at the swim area, of a missing adult male. The Patrol deputy responded and found that the male, later identified as Andrew William Duncan 37 of Manteca, had been missing for about 30 minutes. Duncan was last seen swimming, in the swim area, about 5-7 yards off shore.

            Search and Rescue and Boat Patrol Personnel responded to the lake to begin a search in the area Duncan was last seen. Duncan’s body was located at about 2130 hours. Duncan’s body was recovered from a depth of about eight feet. Duncan’s family and friends were present and identified him. 

2013 Peace Officer Memorial 5-15-13

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office

****Press Release****

2013 Peace Officer Memorial

This year’s Tuolumne County Peace Officer Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.

Date:                                       May 15, 2013

Time of Ceremony:               1200 hrs

Location of Ceremony:        Court House Park, Sonora

     The public is invited to join local members of the law enforcement community in remembering fallen Peace Officers from across the State of California. These fallen Officers gave their lives “In The Line of Duty” for their communities and the citizens of this State.

     Represented agencies will include City, County, State, and Federal Officers who will read the names of the fallen. This is to remember the dead and show the living family members support for their loss.

  

Thank you,

Sgt. James Oliver

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office