Former bank robber faces 27 years after 2022 standoff

Odin Rasco Staff writer

The man who engaged El Dorado County Sheri ’s O ce deputies in a stando in 2022 is facing 27 years in prison, pending an upcoming sentencing hearing. El Dorado County District Attorney’s O ce information shows David Andrew Clarke, 57, made threats to the husband of his deceased girlfriend’s daughter and a mutual friend and fired a shot at their Pleasant Valley home July 17, 2022. When EDSO deputies responded to the

Crime Log

The following was taken from Placerville Police Department logs:

April 5

4:48 p.m. Firearms were reported stolen on Locust Avenue.

April 6

7:43 a.m. Officers arrested a 47-year-old man on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance on Broadway.

April 8

7:40 a.m. Officers arrested a

Weather

situation o of Alameda Road, Clarke fired at them and engaged them in a short stando before surrendering. No deputies were injured during the stando . Clarke has previously been convicted for bank robbery twice; one conviction from Nevada County in February 2011 and a federal conviction in June 2011 for a bank robbery in San Diego, according to the DA’s O ce. Despite the felony conviction, Clarke was in possession of a Winchester .22 rifle and a Colt .22 revolver when he was arrested

46-year-old man on suspicion of assault on a peace officer and public intoxication on Schnell School Road.

8:48 a.m. Officers cited a 38-year-old man reportedly found in possession of illegal drug paraphernalia.

11:51 a.m. Officers arrested a 24-year-old man found to be a parolee at large on Placerville Drive. The suspect also allegedly tried to bring a controlled substance into the jail.

April 9

1:08 a.m. Officers arrested a in 2022. Clarke entered a no-contest plea April 11 to charges of assault with a firearm upon law enforcement o cers, making criminal threats, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Clarke’s sentence will include an enhancement of an additional five years due to his prior serious conviction, according to assistant to the DA Savannah Broddrick. Clarke will be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. May 1 in El Dorado County Superior Court Department 1.

32-year-old man on suspicion of possession of narcotics on Main Street.

6:23 a.m. An assault was reported on Winesap Circle.

10:51 a.m. Officers arrested a 38-year-old woman on suspicion of vandalism and possession of a methamphetamine pipe in Broadway.

5:20 p.m. Battery was reported at. Mosquito Road home.

7:13 p.m. Officers arrested a 41-year-old man suspected of drug-related offenses on Hillside Court.

8:24 p.m. Officers arrested a 38-year-old man on suspicion of public intoxication on Schnell School Road.

April 10

6:59 a.m. Burglary was reported on Placerville Drive.

10:31 a.m. Officers arrested a 34-year-old man allegedly too intoxicated to care for himself on Woodridge Court.

4:06 p.m. Vandalism was reported on Broadway.

5:22 p.m. Residential burglary was reported on Clay Street.

8:59 p.m. Officers arrested a 63-year-old man after responding to a reported assault on Cold Springs Road.

10:47 p.m. Officers arrested a 47-year-old man on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance on Broadway.

11:26 p.m. Vandalism was reported on New Jersey Way.

April 11

2:04 a.m. Officers arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of making criminal threats on Fair Lane.

10:42 a.m. Possible drugs and drug paraphernalia were reportedly found at a Cedar Ravine Road park.

11:57 a.m. Narcotics were reported stolen from a mailbox on Clay Street.

7:30 p.m. Officers arrested a 33-year-old man on suspicion of shoplifting at a Placerville Drive business.

April 12

9:07 a.m. Officers arrested a 44-year-old woman on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance on Forni Road.

April 13

8:27 a.m. A 46-year-old man was arrested on Sacramento Street for reportedly concealing a dirk/ dagger, having an open container and being intoxicated in public.

1:29 p.m. A firearm was reported stolen from a home on Lillian Court.

April 14

10:53 a.m. A 32-year-old man with an outstanding warrant was taken into custody on Fair Lane.

3:48 p.m. A 41-year-old woman suspected of being under the influence of a controlled substance and who resisted arrest on Green Wing Lane was taken to county jail.

6:21 p.m. A battery between neighbors, two women aged 60 and 63, was reported on Schnell School Road.

7:21 p.m. A suspect attempted to break into a gate at a business on Cold Springs Road.

April 15

7:12 p.m. A 59-year-old man on parole was arrested on Placerville Drive after he was found to be in possession of a controlled substance.

April 16

2:50 a.m. Two 18-year-old men and one 21-year-old man were contacted by an officer at a park on Clark Street as it was after dark. One of the men threw a glass bottle at the officer and resisted arrest. All three were taken into custody.

10:37 a.m. A 36-year-old woman who was sleeping in a vehicle on Broadway was found to have an outstanding warrant and to be in possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia. She was placed under arrest.

8:55 p.m. Officers arrested a 46-year-old man on probation on Placerville Drive after a search revealed narcotics.

April 18

12:46 a.m. A man and woman aged 38 and 52 were cited for trespassing as they were found occupying a vacant commercial building on Green Valley Road.

2:30 p.m. Theft from a gem show was reported on Placerville Drive.

11:15 p.m. A 50-year-old man suspected of animal cruelty was arrested on Forni Road and booked on felony charges.

April 19

5:08 p.m. A man and woman aged 38 and 52 were cited for trespassing on Green Valley Road.

Man who burned homeless woman to be sentenced

Odin Rasco

Staff writer

The man arrested by Placerville police for setting fire to the tent of a homeless woman that led to her receiving severe burns Jan. 1, 2021, has entered a no contest plea and will soon be sentenced.

Jacob Vargas, 27, reportedly confessed to setting fire to a tent with a woman sleeping inside at a homeless encampment on Placerville Drive prior to his arrest in March 2021. He is said to have slipped into the camp shortly after 4 a.m. and set fire to the tent using a flammable liquid.

Vargas, who was identified as a transient living in the Placerville area by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, was identified as a suspect following an investigation conducted by the Placerville Police

Station 88

Jacob Vargas

Department and the El Dorado County Fire Protection District.

The victim told investigators she awoke to the sound of a loud explosion as her tent became wreathed in flame. She managed to escape from the tent and extinguish the flames with the help of a neighboring camp occupant but sustained second-and thirddegree burns over 20% of her body, according to a Placerville Police

Continued from A1 illnesses and other absences within the district have resulted in a lot of overtime and staff burnout. He told board members and residents the loss of Engine 88 could add as much as two minutes to emergency response times within the Cameron Park Fire Department’s service area and also touted the county’s mutual aid system that ensures neighboring fire agencies will pitch in when needed.

But Rescue Fire Department Capt. Joel Warman, who lives in Cameron Park near Station 88, said he’s worried the impact to other agencies is being downplayed. He praised Cal Fire’s service to the community and noted, “They’re hamstrung on what their costs are. They’re bound by that and it’s not their fault.” Still, he maintained, closing a fire station, even temporarily should another funding source be found, is “not acceptable.”

“I would get rid of the ambulance,” Warman suggested.

All agreed the loss of a manned fire station is a hard hit but board members had even more concerns about the risks associated with giving up Medic 89.

Station 88’s brownout still doesn’t knock out the district’s financial woes. As Pichly stressed during the April 19 board meeting, more “tough choices” will have to be made in the coming months. A projected budget gap of more than $275,000 between the fire services’ projected revenues

($4,471,665) and expenditures

($4,747, 550) in fiscal year 2023-24 remains and that deficit continues to grow wider through the life of the five-year contract extension.

The general manager said the board might have no other choice but to allocate more of its property

Parlin Continued from A1

replacements but said there are “several well-qualified people” in mind.

“It is a matter of first things first but we will certainly be at the point where we are actually doing this in earnest, when the people will have a pretty good idea of what their choices might be,” Uso said.

A copy of the recall notice of intent was not available as of press time.

“I’m very happy that I was brought into this because I think that we need to do this for not just for the sake of District 4 but for the entire county,” Uso added. “There’s decisions that have been and are being made on the board that are not in the best interest of the entire county.”

Specifically he referenced the board’s decision to allow a temporary homeless navigation center/shelter to open in Placerville, which proved to be a controversial tax revenue to fire protection, forcing cuts to the CSD’s parks and recreation programs and its administration. “It could be that we close certain facilities,” Pichly told the board. “There’s never good options.”

Department press release. The woman was sent to the UC Davis Medical Center burn unit, where she received treatment.

Vargas was initially charged with attempted murder, mayhem and arson causing great bodily injury when he was arrested by police. Additionally, Vargas reportedly attempted to escape from custody while police were transporting him to the El Dorado County Jail.

Vargas faces a sentence of seven years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for a charge of arson causing great bodily injury, according to a social media post from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office.

Vargas will have his sentencing hearing May 5 in Department 1 of El Dorado County Superior Court.

CPCSD Director Dawn Wolfson suggested staff research long-term funding solutions, even perhaps a ballot measure to boost the district’s tax revenue.

Board President Sidney Bazett asked about personnel savings like possibly having just paramedics staff the ambulance rather than firefighter/paramedics. Blankenheim said Cal Fire does not have a paramedic-only position so that staff would have to come from another agency.

Noting that everything is just “more expensive” these days, Director Eric Aiston said he wished he could do more for Cameron Park residents but “reluctantly supports” the plan. This contract extension gives staff the time to explore options, he noted, adding the district’s forthcoming Fire Master Plan (for which a consultant contract was approved earlier in the evening) could offer some ideas — such as sending out a request for proposals to other fire agencies that could serve Cameron Park.

“We’ve had a great partnership (with Cal Fire),” Bazett said. “They’re highly professional and provide great service for us.”

But the board president asserted the CSD has an obligation to best serve its residents and look at all possibilities.

Pichly will return with a fire services resolution for adoption at the May board meeting. Do decision for El Dorado County residents. Uso noted residents have different reasons for signing the recall notice.

Parlin has seven days from the time she was served to respond to the recall notice. Recall proponents have 10 days to submit proof of publication to the Elections Department, along with two blank copies of the recall petition.

Elections staff has 10 days to review blank petitions and inform proponents of any required changes. When the election department signs off the petition will be ready for circulation. Recall proponents have 120 days to circulate the petition and must grab 5,535 valid signatures from District 4 voters.

Parlin beat out former Supervisor Michael Ranalli in 2018 and ran unopposed for the position in 2022 for a second four-year term.

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