From South Lake Tahoe Police
Last weekend, Friday September 11th through Saturday the 12th, investigated four cases of auto theft in the City of South Lake Tahoe. In every case, the ignition keys had been left in the vehicle. Three of the stolen vehicles have been recovered with no identified suspect. Last night a patrol officer saw the one remaining locally reported stolen vehicle and stopped the white 1991 Honda Accord in the 2600 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd. He contacted the driver, 21 year old transient Tarra Sheffield, who identifies herself as Tkay TheKing Hoe on Facebook. She was arrested for auto theft. During the search of the vehicle, the officer located suspected methamphetamine, heroin and drug paraphernalia. The officer also found evidence in this vehicle which appears to be associated with at least one of the other vehicles stolen in South Lake Tahoe over the weekend. This investigation is continuing. Tara Sheffield was booked into the El Dorado County Jail for auto theft, possession of methamphetamine, possession of heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bail was set at $35,000.
Until November of last year, each of the offenses for which Sheffield was arrested last night constituted a felony offense, punishable in state prison for 4 years (in the case of auto theft). Proposition 47 however has now made each of these offenses prosecutable as misdemeanors. On November 5th 2014, California voters passed Proposition 47, the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act”. This initiative reduces the penalties for certain theft and drug crimes in California. Specifically, Proposition 47 takes several crimes that were previously felonies or “wobblers” in California law (meaning that they could be charged as felony or a misdemeanor), and changes them to misdemeanors in most situations. This means that the maximum penalty for these crimes will generally be up to 1 year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1000. This reduction in penalties applies to other crimes also; such as receiving/possession of stolen property, theft of a firearm, commercial burglary by shoplifting, forgery of checks & money orders, and a host of drug possession crimes.
Since the passage of proposition 47, property crime rates have risen across the State of California, and South Lake Tahoe is no exception. The local property crime rate has increased 12% just through the first half of this year, with $779,389 in property reported stolen to SLTPD so far in 2015. The majority of this property had no identifiable markings or registered serial numbers, making it difficult for law enforcement to identify and return it upon its discovery. In an effort to address this, SLTPD is supporting a crime prevention effort with anti-theft dots, a new technology that will assist law enforcement in identifying the owners of stolen property. Anyone wanting more information on this new technology can visit www.antitheftdots.com. Additionally, SLTPD will soon be implementing a GPS tracking campaign that will involve bait items such as vehicles, bicycles, construction equipment, tools and electronics. With these GPS trackers, SLTPD will be able to track the movements of the stolen bait items and apprehend the criminals behind these thefts.
From South Lake Tahoe Police
