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Sheriff and Fire News for August 4, 2011 edition

(Updated: Thursday, August 04, 2011, 9:12 AM)

Stranger flees house when he realizes it's occupied

Deputies with Madera County Mountain Division are searching for a man who reportedly entered a home above Oakhurst when he suddenly realized he wasn't alone.

According to a Madera County Sheriff's report, the stranger appeared to be either dark skinned or very tan, with big thick dark bushy eyebrows; standing roughly 5-feet, 10-inches tall, and had a slender build. He was wearing a gray hooded sweat shirt with a black handkerchief or bandana over his face.

The suspect entered the home, located on Atascadero Road. sometime before 8 a.m. Thursday, July 28.

He entered through an unlocked door.

Two children and their grandmother managed to flee to another room and call 911.While on the phone with authorities, the stranger ran away.

Anyone who may information about this man is urged to call the Madera County Sheriff's Department at (559) 675-7770.

Sheriff John Anderson says this incident should serve as a reminder to the entire community, "Always keep your doors and windows locked -- even when you are home." He further advises, to "Never open your door to a stranger. If that person who you do not know claims he or she needs help, let that person on the other side of the door know that you are going to call 911 so that authorities can offer assistance. If the stranger outside your home really needs help, he or she will be grateful you phoned authorities. But if it's a ruse, you'll be glad that you called 911."

Guilty plea for Ahwahnee marijuana garden

Saul Pacheco Panuco, 31, a citizen of Mexico, has entered a guilty plea that he conspired to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 12,586 marijuana plants.

The plea was the result of Operation Trident last year that eradicated more than 663,000 marijuana plants primarily from public lands in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains.

According to court records, Panuco was found in April 2010, in a marijuana grow site on unimproved private land in Ahwahnee, spraying fertilizer on marijuana plants. Panuco said he was getting paid $8 an hour to tend the plants and his boss would get $100 to $500 per pound for the marijuana.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on Oct. 17. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum term of life in prison as well as a fine of up to $4 million.

Miller receives probation from marijuana charges

Former Yosemite High School baseball player and Chicago Cubs bullpen catcher Corey Miller, 35, arrested in Nebraska on Oct. 23, 2010, of possession of eight pounds of marijuana, was given two years probation by a Nebraska judge July 25.

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Miller was initially pulled over for going 71 in a 65 on Interstate 80 near Lincoln when a trooper found the marijuana in a suitcase in the truck of the vehicle. Miller was cited and released and his girlfriend, Maria Myaskovsky, 27, was arrested.

In a plea bargain with prosecutors, Miller pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted possession of more than eight pounds of marijuana and Myaskovsky, the driver of the vehicle, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana. Her charge, a felony, could bring a sentence from 0 to 5 years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

Myaskovsky was taken into custody at the time of the arrest while Miller was released because the couple had their infant son with them when pulled over.

Miller had a card allowing him to have medical marijuana, but its against the law to possess the drug in Nebraska.

At sentencing, his attorney said most, if not all the marijuana, was for personal use. Miller said he had it for pain relief from migraine headaches.

Man rescued near Mammoth Pool

The Madera County Sheriff's Department Search & Rescue Team along with its Ropes Team, rescued Joshua Bangma, 26, of Huntington Beach Monday afternoon after jumping off a boulder about 30 feet high into Sweetwater Creek near Mammoth Pool.

Prior to jumping into the creek, Bangma was hiking between Wagner's and Sweetwater campgrounds.

He managed to swim to shore where he was met by emergency personnel who hoisted him out of the steep terrain in a basket-type gurney and transported him to an area hospital where he was listed in stable condition.