On 02/03/15 at approximately 8:10 PM the Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the 3200 block of Sand Ridge Road in unincorporated Placerville. A male adult was located deceased in the residence, positively identified as 55 year-old Pete Thomas. Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators responded to the scene to investigate the circumstances of the death. The investigation is on-going however it has been ruled as a homicide. Early reports of the use of a firearm were unfounded.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect who robbed the Check into Cash business in Cameron Park on January 13^th, 2015.

The unidentified suspect entered the business, and passed a grocery bag to the teller while demanding money and brandishing a black semi-automatic handgun. The suspect left the store with an undisclosed amount of money and walked to the north.

The suspect was described as a white male adult, with freckles on his cheeks, approx. 20 years of age, 5’8” to 5’10” inches tall, with an average build, and strawberry blond or reddish colored short hair. He was last seen wearing a black baseball style hat, a black jacket, and dark-colored pants.

Although the images are grainy, anyone who knows this suspect is urged to call the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 621-5655 or Detective J. Densmore at (530) 642-4718. Anyone who has information on this subject and who wishes to remain anonymous can submit an anonymous crime tip via the sheriff’s website www.edso.org

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has received reports of what appears to be a computer scam. It’s been reported that the victims receive a telephone call from someone identifying themselves as a computer technician working for a reputable computer company such as Dell. The caller tells the victim they are certified to work on Microsoft products and they received warning messages from the victim’s computer that it is vulnerable and they called to fix the problem. If you get this type of phone call, it is a scam. Microsoft or their partners do not make unsolicited phone calls, often referred to as cold calls, about your computer’s security or software. The caller is most likely a Cyber Criminal.
Cyber Criminals often use publicly available phone directories to gain your name, telephone number and other personal information. When Cyber Criminals call, they will often try to gain your trust and eventually ask you for your username and password. Cyber Criminals may ask you to go to a legitimate website and install software which will allow them to access your computer remotely in order to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and personal information is vulnerable. In some cases the victim is locked out of their own computer by the Cyber Criminal who then requests a “fee” to restore it.
Although law enforcement can oftentimes trace phone numbers, Cyber Criminals will use pay phones, disposable phones, or stolen phone numbers making investigations difficult. If you receive a phone call like this, all you need to do is hang-up and refuse to become a victim. If you feel you might have fallen for this scam, please report it to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.