MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested three individuals, one of them a former Lake County Sheriff’s deputy, during a Wednesday morning raid near Middletown.
FBI spokesman Peter Lee confirmed to Lake County News late Wednesday that the agency conducted an operation in the south county earlier in the day and made the arrests.
The three men Lee said were arrested included Eric Mendonca, 42, of Middletown; Jack David Pollack, 54, of Hidden Valley Lake; and Terry Jacksen, whose age and city of residence were not immediately available.
Lake County News independently confirmed that Mendonca was a former deputy sheriff.
Witnesses had spotted an FBI SWAT team heading toward the property Mendonca rents, located in the 18000 block of Grange Road, at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Lee said Jacksen was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm and Pollack for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Mendonca was arrested for Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy, Lee said.
The Hobbs Act is a federal charge that prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion, including obtaining property “under color of official right.”
The code section under which Mendonca was arrested states, “Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
As to the specifics of the cases against the three men, Lee said the details were under seal and could not be divulged as of Wednesday.
Lake County News received information that Mendonca had been retired out of the sheriff’s office several years ago due to medical reasons and since then had been working as a butcher.
Pollack has a lengthy arrest history in Lake County, for drugs, weapons, parole and probation violations, according to jail booking records.
His most recent arrest, on Nov. 9, was for possession of a controlled substance for sale, transporting a controlled substance and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.
Additional details about Jacksen were not immediately available Wednesday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story reported Jacksen’s last with an “o” rather than an “e,” based on a spelling provided by the FBI. The story has since been corrected.