News Archive (6192)
The Amador
County Sheriff has released a new sex offender notification service that is now available on the Sheriff’s
website. The new service, called OffenderWatch, is an Internet based,
searchable database containing information about Amador County’s
registered sex offenders that state law allows to be released to the public. OffenderWatch,
unlike the Megan’s Law database, contains a new community notification
component intended to enhance the safety of local citizens.
By going to www.amadorsheriff.org, and signing up for the sexual offender email alert, Amador County citizen’s will receive a return e-mail from the Sheriff’s office, notifying them of all publicly discloseable registered sex offenders living within a one mile radius of each address they choose to register. In addition, there will be automatic follow up emails notifying them when a sex offender registers at a location within a one mile radius of a designated address. This email notification system also contains a link to a map showing where each registered sex offender resides along with additional discloseable information such as a photograph and physical description.
When law
enforcement discovers a change in a sex registrant’s status, such as when they
move in or out of Amador
County, that
information
will also be transmitted to residents. In addition to the county area
information, Police Chief Mike Johnson of Ione, Chief Scott Morrison of Jackson, and Chief Rob
Duke of Sutter Creek are pooling their registrant information, which will also
be available. Through this partnership, every existing and newly registered sex
offender will be entered into the OffenderWatch notification system regardless
of whether they are registered in a city or county jurisdiction. “This new system does not mean
that as parents you can lower your guard when it comes to your family’s
personal safety. You must still teach them how to be safe in the event
they are approached by strangers,” said Sheriff Martin Ryan.
Two suspects were arrested Friday in the Silver Lake area for an alleged carjacking in Stanislaus County and for being in possession of stolen property. Mark Raymond Whiteley and Solanda Sutherland, both residents of Waterford, CA, were found in the disabled vehicle along Highway 88 Friday morning by the CHP. A routine license check revealed that the car was stolen in an alleged carjacking. The suspects were taken into custody at gunpoint. Several chainsaws were found inside the vehicle. With assistance from other officers, it was determined that the suspects had allegedly committed several other felonies, including the theft of the chainsaws, which belong to a Pioneer man who helped the suspects with their car earlier that week. The suspects were transported to Jackson and booked into the Amador County Jail Friday afternoon. Both Whiteley and Sutherland reportedly have gang affiliations and are charged with carjacking, grand theft, and receiving stolen property. Each are being held on $100,000 bail.
TSPN has received reports of accidents over the weekend, two of which involved ice. Both ice-related accidents occurred on Highway 88. Last Friday afternoon, two vehicles collided near the Carson Spur after a 2003 Toyota hit an ice patch and lost control. Saturday evening a patch of black ice caused the driver of a 1999 Acura to lose control and swerve off the road. The CHP reports only minor injuries to the passenger after the vehicle collided into a snow bank. The CHP advises Amador residents to slow down in icy conditions. Snow and ice make stopping distances much longer, requiring a safe distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead. Bridge decks and shady spots can be icy when other areas are not.
The county will be cleaning up the rubble and
burned walls remaining from a
River Pines home that was totally destroyed in a fire last October. Partially
burned walls, piles of lumber and trash, propane tanks and other debris are not only an eyesore, but
also a safety hazard at the property on 14725 Emigrant Trail in River Pines.
Owner Michael Coe said
he doesn’t have the money to pay for clean up since his insurance company has
not paid him for his loss, and he is currently making a mortgage payment
on the house as well as rent payments for a place to live.
Weather was a likely contributor to an accident on Emerson Way and Bingo Drive early Sunday morning. According to the California Highway Patrol, a Stockton man was stopped at the stop sign at Bingo Way when a Nevada woman approached the stop sign, braked but slid on the wet roadway and rear-ended the Stockton man. Neither driver complained of injuries, but this is a reminder that, early in the rainy season, road oils built up over the summer and rain mix to make roads very slick.
CHP Reminds Drivers To Drive Safely During the Holiday Season
Written by
District Attorney Todd Riebe announced yesterday that Justin John Massaro, 20, of Pine Grove has been arrested in connection with a plot to frame his former girlfriend by planting controlled substances in her vehicle, which resulted in her arrest by police. The Jackson woman was arrested last month when police, acting on a tip, searched her car in a Jackson parking lot and found multiple pills of Ecstasy, or MDMA, a controlled substance. A male caller claimed he had observed the woman purchase the illegal drugs and provided police with a specific description of the vehicle and its location.
A follow up investigation by an experienced agent from the Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Team determined the evidence pointed in a direction away from the woman as a suspect and, in fact, indicated she was the victim of a set-up. The investigation led to Massaro, who admitted his involvement and explained how he had purchased the pills and drove them to the woman’s place of work where he planted them in her vehicle. Massaro told the agent he waited until the woman left work before he called the police to report the alleged crime. Massaro now faces several felony counts, including false imprisonment by fraud and deceit and transportation and possession of controlled substances. Massaro posted a 20,000 dollar bond for release from jail and is scheduled to appear in Amador County Superior Court on August 8, 2008. The District Attorney’s Office has declined to file any charges against the woman based on all the facts of the case.
