News

FRESNO -  Fresno County Sheriff's Deputies and volunteers with the Fresno County Search and Rescue (SAR) Team continue to search the wilderness for 65-year-old Hans Lamaack. He was last seen in the City of Fresno on August 30, 2019.

The Sheriff’s Office was made aware that he was missing on September 24th. On the 24th, deputies found Lamaack’s car, a 2001 Volvo. It was parked near Garnet Dike Campground, which is located along the upper Kings River near Balch Camp.

FRESNO - Officers from the Fresno Police Department will be out Saturday, October 12, 2019 looking for drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

DUI saturation patrols will take place in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests. In 2017, 1,120 people were killed in alcohol-involved crashes on California roads. In 2017, the Fresno Police Department investigated 360 DUI collisions which have claimed 15 lives and resulted in another 121 injuries.

FRESNO  -   Elvia Sanchez, 42, of Lenoir City, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to traffic in firearms by an unlicensed person, and the illegal transportation of firearms received in a state of residency, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, on Nov. 29, 2016, and June 12, 2017, Elvia Sanchez mailed firearms from Tennessee to Rafael Sanchez in California in connection with a conspiracy to traffic in firearms.

MADERA – The Madera County Sheriff’s Department reports a felon with a history of violence is off the streets after a seven-hour standoff in the city of Madera. Francisco Javier Bautista (33) is now in custody following his arrest which involved more than two dozen officers from at least three different agencies.

Shortly after 4:00 pm on Thursday, the Madera County Narcotics Enforcement Team (MADNET) attempted to serve a search warrant at a residence in the 1400 block of West Fourth Street in the city of Madera and to take Bautista into custody. Bautista was previously wanted on two felony warrants for recklessly evading a peace officer. According to Madera County Sheriff Jay Varney, this raid was an attempt to avoid another dangerous situation on the road.

FRESNO  -  Today, U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Filiberto “Beto” Chavez, 38, of Fresno, to 20 years and 10 months in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiring to engage in interstate travel for prostitution and use of a cellphone to promote prostitution, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents and testimony at trial, on July 8, 2017, Chavez, a Bulldog gang member, sold methamphetamine to convicted co-defendant, Robert Lockhart. Convicted co-defendant Amina Padilla stored methamphetamine for Chavez and gave a portion of what she had stored to convicted co‑defendant Carlos Melgar to deliver to Lockhart. On July 11, 2017, agents served search warrants at Padilla’s and Lockhart’s apartments and seized methamphetamine from both.

SACRAMENTO -  A Patterson man pleaded guilty today to defrauding concert promoters and investors of $550,000 by claiming to be able to secure well-known artists to perform concerts, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

Jordan Mouton, aka Big Cheeze, 39, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for falsely representing his ability to arrange concerts featuring well-known entertainment artists. Mouton also pleaded guilty to engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.