Absconder held in three Tahoe armed robberies

A 24-year-old South Lake Tahoe man who failed to report to Douglas County Jail to begin a one-year sentence last month, was charged Wednesday in El Dorado County with several armed robberies.

Garrett Jay Churchill was charged in El Dorado County Superior Court for suspected armed robbery after three robberies in South Lake Tahoe between Jan. 31 and Feb. 8.

In each robbery, a gunman entered the store and held clerks at gunpoint while the cash was placed in a black plastic bag before the suspects fled in a light color Dodge Durango.

Logan Sheldon Sharp, 27, of South Lake Tahoe, also was arrested in connection with the robberies.

Douglas District Judge Michael Gibbons issued a nationwide bench warrant for Churchill on Jan. 20, a day after he failed to turn himself in to begin a one-year sentence in Douglas County Jail.

Churchill and Ryan Ferreira of South Lake Tahoe were sentenced by Gibbons on Jan. 12 after they pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, a category E felony that mandates probation.

Gibbons suspended a four-year term in Nevada State Prison and placed them on probation.

Churchill and Ferreira were arrested last October in a Stateline casino hotel room where investigators recovered 22 OxyContin pills, 3 Suboxone pills, 18 grams of marijuana, 2.4 grams of hashish, a hypodermic syringe and other drug paraphernalia and $3,005 believed to be drug sales proceeds.

They reportedly were selling the tablets for $60 each.

Churchill was on probation in Arizona for a prior felony conviction.

Gibbons gave Churchill a week to get his affairs in order before turning himself in at the jail.

On Jan. 19, the night before he was to begin his sentence, Chief Probation Officer Doug Swalm, who supervises the Department of Alternative Sentencing, was alerted that Churchill had cut off his ankle monitor.

Swalm went to Churchill's apartment, which had been cleaned out, and found the smashed ankle bracelet in a nearby Dumpster along with two bags of Churchill's clothing.

Although the monitor was broken, it was still emitting a tracking signal.

Churchill was arrested Feb. 10 in Markleeville when the driver of a vehicle in which he was a passenger was stopped for speeding.

He was returned to El Dorado County Jail where he was charged with the armed robberies, including a fourth armed robbery that occurred in 2003 when Churchill was 19.

The Swiss Mart Gas and Convenience store was robbed at gunpoint and the robber made off with $1,300.

Swalm interviewed Churchill on Feb. 13 and the suspect said he didn't want to go to jail because he was afraid his girlfriend would leave him.

Up until Jan. 19, Swalm said Churchill had followed all the conditions of his release.

That night, Churchill invited a friend over who cut off the ankle monitor with garden shears.

Churchill said he injected Oxycodone that night and had bought, sold and used large amounts of the drug prior to his arrest on Feb. 10.

Swalm said Churchill's arms were covered with puncture marks.

Churchill told Swalm he was in Markleeville on Feb. 10 to catch a bus for California.