Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Albert = Fernandez
A notorious=20 fugitive who had evaded multiple law enforcement agencies for four years = was=20 apprehended by Amador and El Dorado agencies last week.

Albert = Fernandez,=20 who also had the nickname "White Owl" because of a large owl tattooed = across his=20 chest, was picked up during a Sept. 9 code enforcement sweep of several = small=20 buildings and camping tents along the Cosumnes River off Bootstrap Way = between=20 the counties of Amador and El Dorado.

Amador narcotic task force = agents=20 joined a team of code enforcement officers and sheriff's deputies out of = El=20 Dorado because of the possibility of marijuana cultivation in the area. = Before=20 the sweep, an Amador sheriff's deputy informed task force members of a = rumor he=20 heard that the 52-year-old Fernandez, a long-time parolee at large from = West=20 Point, might be in the area.

"So finding him down there was not a = complete surprise," said Amador Undersheriff Jim Wegner.

Law = enforcement=20 personnel conducted a sweep of the encampment, but found no one inside = the small=20 makeshift shacks. In one shack, task force and sheriff's office teams = discovered=20 multiple syringes, methamphetamine injecting paraphernalia, marijuana = growing=20 materials and drying marijuana plants. They also uncovered law = enforcement and=20 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports in the = name of=20 Albert Fernandez.

During that shack's search, a male subject was = seen=20 running from an area adjacent to the encampment. Perimeter units had = been set up=20 around the sweep area, however. Later identified as Fernandez, the male = ran=20 straight toward the perimeter personnel, who gave chase on foot. = Fernandez=20 subsequently surrendered to the task force agents that were pursuing=20 him.

"We got him," an excited Jackie Long, commander of the = narcotic task=20 force, told the Ledger Dispatch.

Fernandez had been on the run = since=20 September 2004 and was rumored to be hiding in multiple areas in = Calaveras and=20 Amador counties. In May, days before a warrant search of a home on = Mitchell Road=20 in Wilseyville, Fernandez outran a Calaveras sheriff's deputy on a quad=20 four-runner. About a year ago, Calaveras and Amador S.W.A.T. teams = raided that=20 same house days after Fernandez told witnesses he was set up beneath the = stairs=20 with a firearm trained on the door.

Fernandez was arrested for = parole=20 violation, marijuana cultivation, possession of hypodermic syringes and = was=20 booked at the El Dorado County Jail. Calaveras sheriff's Sgt. Dave = Seawell=20 didn't expect his office to add additional charges. A search of the = encampment=20 also resulted in the seizure of 16 marijuana plants, and the posting of = five of=20 the shacks as not fit for human occupation.

Raheem = Hosseini