South Lake Tahoe Police: Arrest Made in Drive-By Shooting at Pioneer Inn Motel

Kevin Gonzalez

South Lake Tahoe Police say they have made an arrest in the drive-by shooting at the Pioneer Inn Motel on Thursday.

On Thursday, December 29 just before 10 pm, police say they received a report of a drive-by shooting at the Pioneer Inn Motel, located at 3863 Pioneer Trail in South Lake Tahoe.

Police say on Friday, December 30, 18-year-old Kevin Gonzales, from South Lake Tahoe, was arrested in connection with the drive-by shooting.

Authorities say Gonzalez was booked into the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe for one felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon and one misdemeanor charge of destruction of evidence. Gonzalez’ bail is set at $75,000. 

According to the police, witnesses said that the truck drove west on Pioneer Trail and stopped in front of the Pioneer Inn Motel parking lot. They say one or more of the occupants in the truck began shooting into the parking lot of the motel. They said the truck then left the parking lot going westbound. 

Officers say the suspect vehicle was described as a dark pick-up truck and that witnesses said several young Hispanic males were in the truck. 

Police say that there were no reported injures. 

Officers say that before sunrise on Friday, December 30, they found a vehicle matching the description in the 3600 block of Pioneer Trail. After sunrise, South Lake Tahoe Police along with El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office say they contacted the owner of the vehicle and several of the occupants at the residence. 

Officers say during surveillance of the vehicle used in the drive-by shooting, Gonzalez was seen retrieving and attempting to destroy evidence from the vehicle. Detectives say they were able to recover the evidence at the time of Gonzalez's arrest.

Detectives say they seized the vehicle, pending a search warrant and are currently questioning people to identify a specific suspect(s) and to determine a possible motive. They say there is no information at this time that ties this incident to gang activity. They also say no firearms have been recovered yet. 

More suspects are being sought in this investigation and we anticipate more arrests will be made in this case.  This is an ongoing investigation.

SLTPD is asking if anyone witnessed this crime, or has information relative to this case, please call the South Lake Tahoe Police Department at 530-542-6100, or Lake Tahoe Secret Witness at 530-541-6800..