In most instances, crimes must be reported to the County of El Dorado Sheriff’s Department, Placerville Police Department, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, or the California Highway Patrol.

Once the case is filed, the District Attorney Investigators assist the Prosecutors in preparing the case for trial by conducting interviews, interrogations, processing evidence, and preparing reports. District Attorney Investigators are also involved in the initial investigation phases of parental abductions, insurance fraud, consumer fraud, statutory rape, family support matters and officer-involved shootings.

Placerville Investigations:

530-621-6472

South Lake Tahoe Investigations:

530-573-3100

Jeff Dreher

Jeff Dreher

Chief Investigator - [[email protected]]

Jeff Dreher began serving the citizens of El Dorado County in 1995 as an El Dorado County Sheriff’s Deputy.  In his tenure at the Sheriff’s Office, he worked in all three divisions of the Sheriff’s Office where he achieved the rank of Sergeant then Lieutenant.

Chief Dreher spent his last few years at the Sheriff’s Office as a Lieutenant in the Investigations Section with collateral assignments as the liaison for the television show “Sheriff’s El Dorado,” and as the Lieutenant of the Sheriff’s S.W.A.T. team.

Chief Dreher was selected to be the Chief Investigator at the District Attorney’s Office in March of 2018.  Chief Dreher graduated from El Dorado High School and has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminal Justice.  Chief Dreher is married and has four children.  Two of them graduated from Ponderosa High School and are currently in college.  His younger children currently are enrolled in high school and elementary school.

Richard Pesce

Richard Pesce

Assistant Chief Investigator - [[email protected]]

In 2002, after serving in the United States Marine Corps, Richard Pesce worked at the Amador County District Attorney’s Office as an Information Systems Specialist. While with Amador County, he attended the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Academy and subsequently started his law enforcement career performing patrol duties for the Amador County Sheriff’s Office and becoming a District Attorney Investigator.

In 2007, Richard Pesce transferred to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office where he was initially assigned to investigate High Technology Crimes. He was later assigned to investigate substantial and special cases as determined by the District Attorney. Richard Pesce has investigated and helped successfully prosecute many homicides and significant cases which include: Phillip and Nancy Garrido for the kidnap and sexual assault of Jaycee Dugard; David Zanon, for the first-degree murder of CHP Officer Scott Russell, resulting in a death sentence; Charles Bailey for the kidnap and brutal first-degree murder of his 2-year-old son; Morris Greenberg for the first-degree murder of Anthony Dumont; and school janitor John Luebbers for the first-degree murder of Principal Sam LaCara while school was in session.

Over the past few years, Assistant Chief Pesce designed, coordinated, and created a paperless case management computer system for the District Attorney’s Office. This paperless system allows prosecutors to have access to all cases on a computer while in Court, which eliminated the need for paper files. The paperless system has significantly boosted the office’s efficiency at prosecuting cases while also saving substantial money for the citizens of El Dorado County.

Assistant Chief Pesce is licensed by the FAA, and has flown over and documented numerous critical incident, homicide, and officer-involved shooting scenes with sUAS.

Currently, Assistant Chief Pesce manages the Investigations Bureau, Support Staff, and IT.

Bryan Kuhlmann

Bryan Kuhlmann

Lieutenant - [[email protected]]

Lieutenant Kuhlmann is a veteran who served in the United States Army as a Combat Medic and Jumpmaster in the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. He began his career in law enforcement with the Mountain View Police Department by attending the Police Academy at the South Bay Regional Training Consortium, where he graduated first in his class. He then served as a Patrol and Field Training Officer with MVPD.

In 2002, Lieutenant Kuhlmann relocated with his family to El Dorado County and joined the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. He was a member of the SWAT Team, a Field Training Officer, and Supervising Officer. He was promoted to Detective in 2005, where he investigated fraud, burglary, domestic violence, crimes against children, sexual assault, and homicide. In 2007, he was honored as Detective of the Year.

In 2008, Lieutenant Kuhlmann was selected by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office as an investigator in the South Lake Tahoe office. As the only full-time investigator at the lake from 2010-2021, he handled a wide variety of cases, including officer-involved shootings, cold case homicides, Watson murder, and political corruption. He was named Investigator of the Year in 2018 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 2021.

Joseph Ramsey

Joseph Ramsey

Lieutenant ([email protected])

Lieutenant Ramsey started his career as a Reserve Officer with the Scotts Valley Police Department in 1996. In 1998, he joined the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office where he was assigned to corrections, patrol, SWAT, as a Field Training Officer, and as a detective investigating both property crimes and homicides.

In 2008, Lieutenant Ramsey and his family relocated to El Dorado County where he became a Deputy Sheriff with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office assigned as Patrol Deputy, field training officer, and as a detective.

After working closely with the District Attorney’s Office on the Phillip and Nancy Garrido case, Lieutenant Ramsey discovered his newfound passion and became a DA Investigator in 2011. Lieutenant Ramsey has worked on a variety of assignments over the last decade, including cold case homicides, elder abuse, domestic violence, and general crimes.

Investigators

Jim Applegate
[email protected]
Ryan Andelin
[email protected]
Andrea Luckenbach
[email protected]
Gary Malmquist
[email protected]
John Robertson
[email protected]
Rhiannon Grotke
[email protected]
James Peterson
[email protected]
Ryan Lorey [email protected]
Rich Horn
[email protected]
Omir Torres [email protected]
Ricky Brown [email protected]
Kelly Kent [email protected]
Simon Brown [email protected]
Chris Lindholm
[email protected]
Greg Murphy
[email protected]
John Gaines
[email protected]
Ted Horlbeck
[email protected]
Ken Barber [email protected]

Crime Analyst

Sandra Rivas [email protected]

Investigative Assistants

Ashlee Smith [email protected]
Riley Wilson riley.wilson@@edcda.us
Bonita Strain [email protected]