El Dorado deputy arrested on drug charges
An El Dorado County sheriff’s deputy assigned to the local drug task force was arrested Tuesday on drug charges.
Douglas County sheriff’s deputies were called to the home of Mark Zlendick in Gardnerville on May 19 because of an alleged domestic dispute.
Mark Zlendick
Investigators said they found narcotics and paraphernalia at the house on Centerville Lane.
Zlendick, 47, was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance, trafficking methamphetamine, conspiracy, and possession of paraphernalia.
He posted the $55,640 bail.
Zlendick has been with El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department since 2004. He was a member of the South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team when arrested. El Dorado has placed him on paid administrative leave.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Hand in the cookie jar?
As you were saying ? Even cops get busted .
I want to give up my guns so Poland and him can protect me.
Obviously a failure of his own choices and being too close to the meth lifestyle he was assigned to take down. Where was the supervision and drug testing? He will be terminated I am sure soon. This is rare to see, but not unheard of as these lines that some cross by being assigned to these undercover roles is sometimes too much temptation.
Probably a friend of LW’s.
all the above letters are good.
Cop gets busted for drugs. I knew a few of the Zlendicks from the Tahoe area years ago. This guy does not look familiar so maybe they are not related to the Tahoe family. Have fun in prison as the fellow inmates LOVE busted cops…if you know what I meen. OLS
That guy used to hassle me! There is a god! See you around town!
That guy used to hassle me for fun! See you around town buddy! Have fun with your buddy Johnny Poland! End the war on drugs, you can not trust cops!Reagan was stupid!
Sounds more like he’s a friend of that rock4tahoe feller.
People who have no idea what they are talking about who have never done anything except sit back and let others do it for them keep talking and thinking they know something, which they don’t. None, I bet, have ever had any experience in either being deployed to protect the country through the military service or in law enforcement facing off in civilian incidents and their ignorance is a danger to public safety and local law enforcement as much as anything else.
Hey Wo-Just@ss… Bite me! LW was incarcerated and disbarred for laundering Coke, Crank money. I have never been arrested for anything in my life.
Mr. Duke of Prune Juice is now copying others writings from a previous story and is reposting them here and can’t even have an original thought or idea. Not surprised. Empty heads like Prune’s have a wasted space and they all have a failure to think or come up with anything original.
‘and can’t even have an original thought or idea.’
The fact that I have had at least one (your nickname Justass for example) makes your statement false, further evidence that you are completely full of it.
Your last sentence is offensive to the English language and everyone who tried to educate you.
Duke, I think your coming up with justanass is right on. I laughed so hard when I saw that and decided to use it too. Thanks :)
Prune Juice is a figment of his imagination and hasn’t had an original thought since he was an infant. Now he is copying others and posting their comments from one story to another. At least he keeps busy pretending to be something he can’t.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article21624627.html
Interesting that the EDGE performed a sweep of alleged gang members the day before in Placerville. Would be curious if he was involved with that sweep.
This story has not received the media attention it should. It’s not just a cop getting busted with drugs this guy was a SLEDNET cop. Pure hypocrite scum. This guys job was ruining peoples lives for doing the same exact thing he does. I hope his career and life are ruined as well. Every case that he had involvement with should be carefully reviewed. Another reason why SLEDNET funding should be cut and the program be thrown in the trash. As soon as cannabis is legalized the SLT cops will have plenty of free time to handle all the meth and heroin in town, then again there are lots of entertaining things to watch on youtube to keep the cops busy. The fact that he is on paid admin leave is insane. Never trust a cop!
Zlendick did it to himself. I hope justice is swift and severe for he has broken a trust with the community he had taken a sworn oath to serve and protect. Law enforcement does not want the likes of him. To not trust all cops because of his actions is like saying a person cannot trust a race or anyone of a particular religious group merely because of a few bad apples taking part in inappropriate behavior whatever that may be.
Zlendick pretty much trampled all over the Police Officer Code of Erhics which to this day hangs in my office. I knew him. He rode with me when he was a young Reserve Officer. He is a disappointment to me personally. Again, I can speak for all officers when I say that justice should be swift and severe.
RC; To not trust all cops because of his actions is like saying a person cannot trust a race or anyone of a particular religious group merely because of a few bad apples taking part in inappropriate behavior whatever that may be.
The same rules that police officers want applied to them when one goes bad should be reverse applied when it comes to someone wearing a Motorcycle Patch. It is a well known fact that I wore a 3 piece patch for years in South Lake Tahoe and slednet and the gang task force had my photo on their gang wall at the police station. They all knew me yet they lumped me into “all of them” other gang members. I knew Zlednick and ran into him on several occasions when he was making a bust and for this to come as a surprise to the police force is funny. Speaking as one who did alleged things in my past you could see it in his eyes a mile away. 1% of the people who ride motorcycles are lumped into “gangs” and about 1/4% of those are bad. I would think the percentage is much higher in the police force. With the advent of video and cell phones we will soon see.
Crooked: Don’ blame SLEDNET for one bad apple. AND don’t EVEN think SLEDNET is ruining the pathetic lives of cranksters, crack heads, pill poppers, heroin addicts, etc. THEY are ruining their own lives. Let’s keep the blame where it is deserved. I’m not defending Zlendick. He will get what he deserves. But don’t defend the dregs and blame Law Enforcement, although that seems to be our country’s new motto.
Hi Ski Bum,
Well if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck! You may call it profiling. I call it good police work.
You will not hear cops complaining about wearing video cameras. Most welcome them. I wish I had one when I worked. I saw so many unwarranted officer complaints generated by people who had an axe to grind with the police in general. Once I got sued for 8 million dollars for a fatal officer involved shooting I was in in Los Angeles. I was sued for the “premeditated, unprovoked, and calculatied killing of the deceased.” Interesting, though cause I responded to a man with a gun call and was shot at 4-5 times by this suspect using a HK 91 from about 30 feet away, before I ever discharged a round. Obviously I was the attacked victim but I got sued. The process could have been avoided possibly if it was recorded. Another time in Tahoe I had a mother of an arrestee make a formal complaint on me because I smiled when I arrested her baby boy who was in his twentys. It went to an Internal Afdairs investigation and cost taxpayers money to investigate it and in the end no finding of fault on my part. The reason for the investigation and cost was because it had to be investigated because she filed a B S formal complaint.
Your comment about using cameras to show more cops doing things wrong or bad I find interesting since the ACLU has great concerns over video body cameras by cops being an invasion of privacy. Why would that be? Because the ACLU is made up of attorneys and heaven forbid if the truth be known about a defendant.
But regarding Zlendick, yes it was a surprise. Do you actually believe any cop or agency wants, or will allow, someone under the influence of any substance, especially Meth, on the street carrying a firearm and making split second, life and death decisions?
To clarify regarding the 8 million dollar law suit. The City and I still had to jump through some hoops before it was dismissed as another unwarranted claim.
RC, the problem is that were to few of you, one of the good guys. You were always fair and honest and I know we all respected you. Next time you go on a hunt I need some heads for my mineshaft in my front yard. Thanks and I should be seeing ya at Jethro’s soon as my kid is getting a house in the Ranchos.
Retired Cop,
You were one of the good ones! But they aren’t all like you. And as police themselves will tell you, if you bust one, how many more do you think are out there who don’t get busted?
I’ve encountered some bad apples that carry a badge. Takes some courage to make a complaint. You have to go into the police station. Ask the people who work with the bad apples to fill out the form. And believe me, the clerks and the uniform officers are FAR from helpful and try to dissuade you every step of the way!
Once you show the fortitude that you’re not going to back down, then they’ll put you with an officer who’ll hear you out.
S/he can be nice. But they’ll lie to you in playing dumb about having any knowledge of an officer’s past.
All that trouble will lead to a ‘discussion’ with an officer to get him back off. Well actually, someone I know had to go to that next step and talk to the FBI for that to happen.
But anyway, the bad apples, unless they’re caught red-handed with doing something felonious like this guy, aren’t punsihed. They get to keep their paycheck & pension.
No, don’t paint all cops with the same brush. But do you think those that worked with this guy are shocked? So wish the good ones just did a better, more diligent job of working to root out the bad ones!
Yes Parker there are some cops I didn’t care for but it didn’t make them “bad” as far as criminality goes and yes, I have seen a few others cross that thin line all cops walk doing the job.
Yes, I do think those he worked with are shocked. If I knew of a cop doing dope and stealing, he would be gone. No room for criminality in police work. Would you trust your life with a partner who was armed doing meth and was to have your back? I don’t think so.
As far as Mark Zlendick’s situation I have to say I have not seen him in years and I always remembered him as a bright, eager young cop, the kind you want to train and who was suited for the job. What happened to him to cross over that line? I don’t know and I don’t care because the excuse means nothing to me. The black eye does that he gave law enforcement. As I have said before about integrity, no one can take it away, an individual gives it away. Mark’s Dad was a stand up cop. I do feel sorry for him of the disappointment Mark had caused him.
Hey, “three fingers” keep your hand off my tacos. I will look for the moped and then will know you are at Jethros. Maybe tie my horse or mule up to it.