Placerville burglary, pursuit leads to arrest of Fresno men

Four Fresno men are in custody following an early morning burglary at a Placerville business that led to a police pursuit.

Police received a 911 call about 4:28 a.m. Tuesday reporting that someone was breaking into Placerville Polaris at 673 Placerville Drive. The caller described the suspect vehicle as it left the business, according to a Placerville Police Department news release.

Within minutes of receiving the call, officers spotted the vehicle on Canal Street at Highway 50. As it turned onto westbound Highway 50, the driver failed to yield to a police vehicle’s flashing lights and a pursuit began.

Police gave chase on westbound Highway 50. The suspect vehicle took the El Dorado Road exit and came to a stop at Echo Road off El Dorado Road.

Four of the five people in the vehicle jumped out and ran in various directions, the news release said. The fifth person stayed in the vehicle and was taken into custody.

With help from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol, three of the other four people were located by 5 a.m. and arrested without incident, according to police

Officers learned that the suspects used an ax to break the front door at Placerville Polaris, which sells all-terrain vehicles and power tools. Approximately $9,500 worth of property was taken from the business, including chain saws and generators, according to the news release. All the items were located and returned to the business.

Police learned during their investigation that the vehicle involved was stolen out of Manteca, and that the four suspects arrested are from Fresno.

The fifth person, who police have not been able to identify, has not been located.

Police identified the men in custody as Shawn Stewart, 28, Stacey Brown, 51, Alex Panoo Jr., 44, and James Stanley, 54. They were booked into El Dorado County Jail on suspicion of several offenses, including failure to yield to law enforcement officers, burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, resisting an officer and possessing a stolen vehicle. Panoo also was charged with a parole violation.

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Placerville burglary, pursuit leads to arrest of Fresno men."