July 16, 2026 – Fresno County Sheriff's Office officials report that on Wednesday, July 15th, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office conducted a Gold Star Operation in various foothill and mountain communities such as Prather, Auberry, Tollhouse and Shaver Lake.
This proactive operation was comprised of approximately 130 personnel from 17 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. They were divided into several teams and given assignments to track down dozens of people. This included probationers, parolees, arson registrants, sex registrants and wanted fugitives.
In the end, deputies and officers visited 41 locations. A total of nine probation searches were conducted, along with 2 parole searches. It resulted in 12 arrests.
Some of the most notable arrests include:
- 36-year-old Mark Cruz of Auberry. He had outstanding warrants out of Clovis for evading police, ramming a police car and illegal possession of firearms.
- 26-year-old Ronnie Lovejoy of Friant. He had outstanding warrants for parole violation and illegal possession of weapons.
- 44-year-old Adrian Johnson of Auberry. He had outstanding warrants for domestic violence and illegal possession of weapons.
This operation not only provided a public safety service to the residents of northeastern Fresno County, but it also helped foster a better working relationship between different law enforcement personnel. The benefits are that officers can share information, improve communication as a team and offer added protection to one another when contacting potentially danger individuals.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office wishes to thank the following Gold Star allied agencies for their assistance.
- Fresno Police Department
- Clovis Police Department
- California Highway Patrol
- Fresno County Probation
- California Department of Parks & Recreation
- National Forest Service
- Reedley Police Department
- Selma Police Department
- U.S. Marshals Service
- Sanger Police Department
- Madera County Sheriff's Office
- Fresno County DA Investigators
- CDCR – Parole Agents
- California Department of Fish & Wildlife
- Coalinga Police Department
- Kingsburg Police Department
Source & photo: Fresno County Sheriff's Office
