Body found in burned car near Copperopolis. Calaveras deputies make arrest
A man found hiding in bushes in the community of Telegraph City has been arrested in connection with a burned body in a nearby car, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The Sheriff’s Office on Thursday morning identified the man as David Joseph Fagundes, 41, from Washington state.
Just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, deputies were dispatched to a vehicle on fire near the intersection of Highway 4 and Lower Telegraph Road, west of Copperopolis. Firefighters extinguished the flames, revealing a body inside.
Sheriff’s investigators called to the scene learned that someone may have tried to put out the fire with a hand-held extinguisher before firefighters arrived. They are looking to speak to that person as a witness who may be able to shed some light on what was happening at the scene before fire and law enforcement arrived, Sgt. Greg Stark said Thursday. It’s not clear why detectives believe someone made an attempt to put out the fire.
Deputies and Cal Fire personnel worked the scene throughout the day. At some point, a Cal Fire captain saw someone apparently hiding in a nearby field. Detectives located the man, who was uncooperative, a news release from the Sheriff’s Office said.
The subject, later identified as Fagundes, said he was armed. He made threats against the deputies, as well as suicidal statements.
The Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and two K-9s were called to the scene. A hostage negotiator tried to convince Fagundes to come out of hiding, but he refused and repeatedly claimed to be armed.
He ultimately was taken into custody by a K-9 and the SWAT deputies. Fagundes had a knife, Stark said, but it’s unknown at this time whether the weapon was used to kill the person found in the car.
Evidence was found linking Fagundes to the person found in the car, but the Sheriff’s Office has not released its nature. Fagundes was booked into the Calaveras County Jail, but the Sheriff’s Office has not said what charges he faces.
No identifying information about the person found dead, including gender, was released Thursday morning. An autopsy will be conducted Thursday to determine cause and manner of death, Stark said.
“Based upon the evidence at the scene, sheriff’s Investigators are treating this case as a homicide pending further results of the autopsy and evidence processing,” the news release said.
Fagundes, however, has not been charged with homicide. The charges he faces are felony making criminal threats, obstructing or resisting a public official, resisting or delaying arrest, being under the influence of drugs and violation of probation, Stark said.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 209-754-6500.
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 10:52 AM.