A 26-year-old Red Hawk Casino dealer has been arrested for allegedly accepting counterfeit money knowing that the bills were fraudulent, authorities said.

Officials from the California Attorney General's office said Chi Yang (photo) of Carmichael and several accomplices defrauded the casino of about $3,000.

Yang was arrested shortly after midnight Friday and booked into the El Dorado County jail in Placerville on 10 counts of burglary, 10 counts of forgery, 10 counts of embezzlement and a conspiracy charge, authorities said.

Marty Horan, one of two assistant chiefs at the AG's Bureau of Gambling Control, said investigators plan to seek three more arrest warrants.

The investigation began in mid-June when the executive director of Red Hawk's tribal gaming agency reported the alleged fraud, Horan said.

Casino officials became suspicious when they discovered on a few occasions that a drop box from the Black Jack table where Chi Yang worked contained counterfeit $100 bills.

After reviewing the casino's reports and surveillance video footage, the bureau dispatched undercover agents to observe Chi Yang and his accomplices.

Agents noticed Chi Yang would receive two to five counterfeit bills at a time, hoping to avoid detection, Horan said.

The three-week long investigation also involved FBI agents.

If convicted of the counts, Horan said Yang could face at least five years in state prison.

Citrus Heights police have arrested three men who were allegedly involved in a shooting on July 4 that injured two other men.

According to a news release, a fight among three to five men broke out at an apartment complex in the 5800 block of Sunrise Vista at about 9:20 p.m.

Witnesses reported that someone had a gun. When officers arrived they found two victims with gunshot wounds and administered first aid until paramedics arrived. The victims were taken to Mercy San Juan hospital for treatment.

Officers arrested a 17-year-old male and 21-year-old Richard Horgan on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, the news release said.

Investigators said further investigation determined that another 17-year-old male was involved and had fled to Hawthorne. He was arrested Thursday and is currently in custody at the Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall. He is being held on two counts of attempted murder with a firearm.

The 17-year-olds' names are not being released because they are juveniles.

A man on the way to the hospital this morning made an emergency stop on H Street to save lives.

Santino Deanda was on H Street about 12:10 a.m. when he noticed fire burning at the rear of a boarding house in the 3700 block of H Street. He pulled up to the home, asked his wife to summon firefighters on the cellphone and hurried to the front door.

When his knocks were unanswered, he entered the home, which was choked with smoke, and woke up the occupants, about six people.

Deanda inhaled smoke and was transported to the hospital. An elderly man from the house also suffered from smoke inhalation. Both men were expected to recover, a Sacramento Fire Department spokesman said.

No other injuries were reported.

Fire officials said the fire started on the exterior of the home at the rear of the structure and quickly spread up the side of the house.

Firefighters were on the scene in about 4 1/2 minutes and prevented the fire, which is under investigation, from spreading into the home.

Smoke detectors were in place within the boarding house, but it was unclear how many were operating, fire officials said.

Roseville police area are advising city residents to be on the lookout for a couple suspected of talking their way into an elderly man's house this week and making off with his wallet.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon when a man and a woman knocked on the door of a 90-year-old man's home in east Roseville. They convinced the man to let them inside after asking to do odd jobs around his house.

The woman then asked about a tree in the elderly man's front yard, and the two exited the home, leaving the male suspect inside. After the couple finally left, the resident discovered his wallet with a small amount of money, credit cards and identification had been taken.

The suspects drove away in a red, full-size pickup, possibly a Chevrolet or GMC.

Police are looking for a a Hispanic man in his 30s, about 5-feet-10 with brown hair. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

The woman suspect was white, in her 30s and overweight. She had a swollen leg and had difficulty walking.

A similar incident occurred in March when three men in a red Chevy pickup talked their way into an elderly woman's home in the same east Roseville neighborhood on the pretext of checking the condition of her roof. They are suspected of stealing the woman's safe.

Police remind residents not to let strangers into their homes and to be willing to tell strangers to leave their property. In addition, be cautious of anyone offering to do unsolicited work.

Smoke rising north of Woodland on Saturday more than likely will be from a big controlled burn on the Horgan Ranch where each year firefighters sharpen their skills.

For 25 years, firefighters from Yolo County fire departments have converged on the Horgan Ranch to conduct the burn. This year, crews will gather on County Road 17 near Interstate 5 and the Yolo exit to practice wildland firefighting.

More than 100 firefighters with 16 engines and water tenders will watch over a 400-acre training burn that starts at 8 a.m. Fire departments expected to participate include Arbuckle, Capay Valley, Clarksburg, Dunnigan, Elkhorn, Esparto, Knights Landing, Madison, Robbins, Rumsey Rancheria, UC Davis, West Sacramento, Williams, Willow Oak, Winters, Woodland, CAL Fire, West Plainfield and Zamora.

His parents asked for leniency, but a Placer County judge didn't agree and sentenced a Citrus Heights man to a long state prison sentence for burglary and other crimes.

Superior Court Judge Larry D. Gaddis on Wednesday sentenced Daniel Joseph Homan, 21, to 17 years in prison after listening to pleas from the defendant and his family. Homan and his parents asked for counseling or drug and alcohol rehabilitation instead of prison time, citing what they said was the young man's lack of violence against others.

But Gaddis noted that Homan had once been involved in a robbery with an armed accomplice and that there is no indication Homan was under the influence when he committed burglaries and stole cars in May and June 2008.

Homan pleaded guilty on May 19 to two counts of burglarizing a home, one count of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of fleeing from a police officer while driving recklessly.

In addition to committing the burglaries while the homeowners slept, Homan, while running from police, pushed a vehicle stopped at a red light into the intersection to continue his flight. Also, while fleeing from police, Homan, who had four passengers in his car, came to a dead-end street, smashed through a barrier, drove down an embankment and plunged into a creek bed where the vehicle caught fire.

He was caught when he tried to run away, a news release from the Placer County District Attorney's office states.

Deputy District Attorney Rick Opich said Homan has violated jail rules.

"He's demonstrated an inability to obey any rules -- either on the street or (in) the jail," Opich said.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies joined forces in June for an apprehension drive that netted more than 200 fugitives in the 34 California counties of the federal judicial district based in Sacramento, the U.S. Marshals Service announced Thursday.

It was the sixth such initiative, labeled Operation FALCON, which targets fugitives wanted for crimes of violence, sex offenders, gang members and dope pushers.

"Operation FALCON is one example of ... cooperative efforts in combating crime, thus taking the most serious criminals off the streets and making the public safer," said Antonio Amador, the district's U.S. marshal.

Since its inception, Operation FALCON nationwide has resulted in 91,086 arrests and cleared 117,874 warrants, and is the single most successful initiative aimed at apprehending violent fugitives in U.S. law enforcement history, according to Marshals Director John Clark in a related announcement.

"I continue to be impressed with the remarkable results that can be achieved when all of law enforcement comes together," Clark said.

Sacramento police arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly broke into a home early Thursday and tried to sexually assault a resident while she slept with her child.

Police said George Everett (left photo) entered an apartment in the 2600 block of Meadowview Road by unknown means shortly before 5:40 a.m. According to a news release, Everett entered the victim's bedroom, where she was sleeping with her 8-week-old child, and got on top of her. The victim fought back and hit Everett with a lamp, prompting him to flee, police said. The victim suffered minor injuries and the child was not hurt, police said.

When officers arrived, they cordoned off an area and used surveillance footage from the apartment complex to obtain a description of the attacker.

Shortly after, officers spotted Everett running within the cordoned area.

Everett was arrested on suspicion of burglary and attempted sexual assault.

A man suspected of robbing banks in Sacramento and Davis has used a fake British accent to conceal his voice, according to authorities.

The first robbery occured shortly after 11 a.m. on April 5 at the Tri Counties Bank on Sacramento's Arena Boulevard, according to a news release issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The suspect passed a note to the teller demanding that she put money in his bag and then - using a fake British accent - told her "not to make a scene," the release states.

The second robbery occured about 1:30 p.m. on April 22 at the Bank of America on Anderson Road in Davis, according to the release. The suspect again used a note and a fake British accent to demand money. After that robbery, he was seen running through the parking lot carrying a dark-colored backpack, the release states.

According to the FBI, the suspect is described as a white man, 22 to 30 years old, 5-foot-7-inches to 5-foot-11-inches tall and weighing 160 to 200 pounds. He has short, dark hair, with a receding hairline and a goatee. He wore dark sunglasses during both robberies, and a black, long-sleed T-shirt with "Las Vegas, Sin City" on the front during the Davis robbery, the release states.

The case is being investigated by the Sacramento Violent Crimes Task Force - composed of FBI agents and robbery detectives from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department - and Davis police detectives.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI in Sacramento at (916) 481-9110, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 or the Davis Police Department at (530) 747-5400.

Rashard Delrico Mack was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, plus 25 more years, for his shotgun murder of Jesse Reiter during a robbery two years ago in Sacramento's Valley Hi neighborhood.

"Your senseless act of murder shattered all of us and left a gaping hole in our lives forever," Reiter's mother, Mary Carol Reiter, said during the Sacramento Superior Court sentencing in front of Judge Lloyd G. Connelly.

A second defendant in the case is awaiting a retrial. A separate jury in April could not reach a verdict in the case against Mack's co-defendant, Ulysses Peter Walker, 21, and Judge Connelly declared a mistrial. Jurors had voted 11-1 to convict Walker. His retrial is set for Aug. 21.

Reiter, 36, was shot and killed around 5 a.m. on March 24, 2007. Reiter and a friend had started drinking in bars in Woodland, then went to a Richards Boulevard strip club in Sacramento and then ventured into the South Sacramento area in pursuit of strippers.

According to testimony at trial, Reiter met Walker outside the club and then followed him to Valley Hi into what prosecutors described as a robbery setup.

Sacramento police are looking for four men who reportedly sexually assaulted a woman in her 50s over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The woman was walking home from a party at about 3 a.m. Sunday when she was attacked on Dixieanne Avenue near Oakmont Street in North Sacramento, Sgt. Norm Leong said.

The men grabbed her, took her to a secluded parking lot area and sexually assaulted her, authorities said. They also beat and robbed her before fleeing the scene in a 1980s to 1990s burgundy Cadillac, police said.

All the attackers were described as African American men.

The first man is described as being 23 to 25 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing between 165 to 170 pounds. He has a stocky build, tiny black "twisties" in his hair and a mustache. He was wearing a black T-shirt with a silver design in the front.

The second man is described as being in his early 20s, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. He also has a stocky build and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing a gray sweat shirt.

The third man is described as 19 to 21 years old, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall weighing 160 pounds. He is light-skinned, slim and has long stringy black shoulder-length braids. He was wearing a red sweat shirt.

The fourth man is described as 19 to 21 years old. He was wearing a dark blue sweat shirt.

Police are preparing sketches of the men.

It was a busy Fourth of July holiday weekend for Elk Grove fire and law enforcement agencies.

According to a news release, they responded to 135 fireworks-related incidents, seized about 300 pounds of illegal fireworks, put out five fireworks-related fires, arrested a man on suspicion of possessing illegal fireworks and cited three juveniles for allegedly setting a Dumpster fire.

Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Marshal George Apple said he believed that a joint task force between police and fire "was successful in getting some of the illegal fireworks off the street and hopefully prevented some fires from occurring."

Police arrested Johnny Chuong, 20, of Rancho Cordova, after they stopped him July 4 for a vehicle code violation and found illegal aerial fireworks devices in his vehicle's trunk. He was arrested on suspicion of possession of illegal fireworks with a combined weight of 25 pounds, Elk Grove police Officer Christopher Trim said. Chuong was already on searchable probation.

The three juveniles who allegedly started a Dumpster fire on Second Avenue in Elk Grove were cited on arson-related charges.

Elk Grove police and fire officials are also investigating a July 2 fire at the Elliott Ranch Elementary School on East Taron Drive. The fire caused moderate damage to an outside wall at the school's cafeteria, authorities said.

Anyone with information about the school fire is asked to call the arson tip line at (916) 405-7118.

From Kim Minugh:

Taser International was in town today to demonstrate three new "stun gun" products to local law enforcement officers.

Representatives from a handful of area agencies - including the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol and the Rocklin Police Department - attended the demonstration, which took place at the Sheriff's Department's firing range.

Taser employees introduced three new products, all of which involved technology that induces "NMI," or neuromuscular incapacitation. In technical terms, that means electricity interrupts the communication between the brain and muscles, causing muscles to freeze. In law enforcement terms, it means making people comply.

The product that appeared to draw the most attention from the 30-or-so officers present was the "X12 LLS" pump-action shotgun - made by firearms manufacturer Mossberg -which fires "XREP" 12-gauge rounds that basically are mini Tasers.

The rounds projects "probes" that embed in a person's skin, attached by copper wires. Needles then pop out of the round, which swings in a pendulum motion and attaches to the skin, creating the closed circuit that Tasers need to effective conduct electricity.

Taser representatives tout the technology for its accuracy and its long-range capabilities for when police want to use weapons far less potentially lethal than firearms. According to the company's data, the XREP rounds are effective up to 100 feet, whereas "bean bag" rounds are only effective 35 to 55 feet, and rubber bullets are only effective 50 to 70 feet.

Officers in the crowd were interested in the shotgun's long-range power, given that the traditional hand-held "X26" Tasers typically are used at close range. But some seemed concerned by the 20-second duration of the shock: The current continues for 20 seconds and can't be stopped sooner by the officer.

Another product that raised eyebrows was the "Shockwave" - a stack of boxes that can deploy up to 18 Taser darts in fan-like formation at one time. Taser is marketing it as an "area denial system," a device that covers a large area that is forbidden to entry. Taser folks acknowledged the technology is, for the most part, designed for military or corrections officials.

Lastly, Taser representatives introduced a new version of the hand-held Taser, this one called the "CDPM" that has built-in safety measures that deactivate the device if taken out of the officer's hands. That, too, is mostly for corrections, the representatives said.

And in case you're wondering, no one was hurt - or Tased - during the course of the demonstration. The only willing volunteer was a wooden fence.

For more information about the products, visit. www.taser.com.

One of the frustrations for police in catching credit-card thieves is they tend to use the cards and quickly move on. But one suspect slowed down enough to, uh, well enough anyway for Sacramento County Sheriff's Department deputies to catch up with him.

Here's the chain of events reported in a crime summary released this week:

At about 11:30 a.m. Monday, deputies received information from the Rocklin Police Department that a credit card reported stolen was being used at a "massage parlor" on Greenback Lane.

Deputies arrived and found the suspect in possession of the victim's identification, credit cards and a receipt for a "massage transaction in his pocket."

The victim told deputies that her purse was stolen that morning.

Sharma Nilesh, 30, was booked into jail on suspicion of a variety of charges. His car also was towed.

Teens and adults are invited to meetings later this month to develop information on alcohol and drug abuse in the Rocklin area.

The meeting on July 22 sponsored by the Rocklin Police Department and the Coalition for Placer Youth will seek answers to a variety of questions including:

-Is underage drinking and drug use a problem in Rocklin?

-What are the teen attitudes toward the abuse?

-Where are teens drinking alcohol and taking illegal drugs?

-How are teens getting alcohol and drugs?

-Are parents allowing their children to take illegal drugs and drink alcohol?

-What are the root causes of such abuse?

The teen focus group meeting occurs 5 to 6 p.m. July 22. The adult focus group occurs 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. the same evening.

Both are at the Rocklin Police Department, 4080 Rocklin Road. Both focus meetings will be held in a large community meeting room.

The information on abuse trends and issues will be used to prepare an agenda for a later large-scale community drug forum in the fall.

Those planning to attend either forum July 22 are urged to call (916) 625-5416.