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Lakeport Police logs: Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
00:00 EXTRA PATROL 2601100001
Occurred at Lake County Law Library on 3D....
Governor administers oaths to new California Supreme Court justices
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Following his inauguration on Monday, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. swore in Justices Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar and Leondra R. Kruger to the California Supreme Court.
“What I’m looking for is insight and growing wisdom over time so we can create a measure of harmony in what is a very conflicted society,” said Gov. Brown at the Monday ceremony. “And I think we are going to do very well in helping build the respect for the law, for the courts, for their independence, so that all of us – whatever our particular ideological or philosophical proclivities – at the end of the day are very thankful that we have honest, intelligent and fair-minded people making sense out of the complexities.”
Gov. Brown nominated Justice Cuéllar in July and Justice Kruger in November to the California Supreme Court.
Justice Cuéllar was confirmed in August and Justice Kruger last month by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, composed of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and senior presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal Joan Dempsey Klein.
Cuéllar, 41, of Stanford, was a Stanford Law School professor from 2001 to 2014 and was appointed Stanley Morrison Professor of Law in 2012. He taught administrative law, criminal law and international law, among other subjects.
Cuéllar was director of Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies from 2013 to 2014 and Professor of Political Science, by courtesy, at Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences from 2010 to 2014. He served as co-director of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation from 2011 to 2013.
Cuéllar was born in Matamoros, Mexico and for a number of years walked across the border each day to attend school in neighboring Brownsville, Texas.
At age 14, he moved with his family to the Imperial Valley of California, where he graduated from Calexico High School.
Cuéllar went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College, a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in political science from Stanford University.
Cuéllar served as special assistant to the president for Justice and Regulatory Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council in 2009 and 2010 and was co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition's Immigration Policy Working Group in 2008 and 2009.
He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2001 and as senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Enforcement at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 1997 to 1999.
Kruger, 38, of Washington, D.C., served as a deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel from 2013 to 2014.
She served as an assistant to the solicitor general and as acting principal deputy solicitor general in the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General from 2007 to 2013. While serving in that office, she argued 12 cases on behalf of the federal government before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kruger was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School in 2007 and an associate at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP from 2004 to 2006.
She served as a law clerk to the Honorable John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court from 2003 to 2004 and to the Honorable David S. Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2002 to 2003. Kruger was an associate at Jenner and Block LLP from 2001 to 2002.
Kruger earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Kruger was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. She is a member of the State Bar of California.
Sheriff-elect helps find bike theft suspect
Editor's note: The Lakeport Police Department said Sunday that information they had originally had reported regarding Harding's arrest – that he had been cited for previous cases – is incorrect. The story has been updated accordingly.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man was arrested and booked for stealing an expensive bicycle after the county's sheriff-elect spotted him riding the bike through town.
Eugene Harding, 41, a transient, was arrested early Saturday evening on felony charges including grand theft totaling more than $950, receiving stolen property, a felony probation violation and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, according to acting Lakeport Police Sgt. Mike Sobieraj.
On Saturday afternoon, Sobieraj was dispatched to Main Street Bicycles, located at 125 N. Main St., on the report of a bicycle stolen from the curbside bike rack.
Sobieraj said that when he arrived he got the description of the Specialized Venge Pro racing bike, and also obtained an estimate of its value – more than $5,000 – from Main Street Bicycle.
The bike belonged to a young local cyclist, Jeffrey Morton, according to a post by his coach, Dave Garzoli, on Lake County News' Facebook page shortly after the theft occurred.
Garzoli said he and Morton – who is on the high school mountain bike team that Garzoli coaches – had just finished a 50-mile ride and stopped in at the bike shop for a few minutes to warm up when the bike was stolen.
Morton had saved up and purchased the $5,600 bike, and has only had it two weeks, said Garzoli.
During a lengthy search of the area of Lakeport, another Lakeport Police officer, Joe Eastham, joined in to search for stolen bicycle, Sobieraj said.
Garzoli, meanwhile, made other posts on Facebook in an effort to find the bike.
Shortly after 5:15 p.m., according to Sobieraj, Sheriff-elect Brian Martin and his wife, Crystal – who had seen Garzoli's Facebook posts – spotted the bicycle at the Regency Inn in Lakeport.
Brian Martin saw the suspect park the bicycle near the stairs leading to the second story of the motel, Sobieraj said.
Sobieraj said he and Eastham arrived at the motel about four minutes later and began knocking on doors and speaking with motel guests. Martin remained on scene to identify the suspect.
The officers found Harding – who is on local probation – in one of the motel rooms, Sobieraj said.
Harding told officers that he took the bicycle with the intention of returning it because his knee hurt and he needed a ride to the motel, according to Sobieraj.
Sobieraj arrested Harding and during a search found Harding had one gram of suspected methamphetamine on him.
In a video of Harding's arrest that Garzoli posted online, Harding claimed that he “borrowed” the bike, adding that God gave him permission to it.
Harding was taken to the Lake County Jail and booked.
The bike was returned to Morton with no reported damage. Garzoli posted a picture of the grateful young cyclist – along with his bike and the new sheriff – on Facebook.
Harding, whose occupation on his booking sheet is listed as “home care,” remained in the Lake County Jail without bail from the felony probation violation, Sobieraj said.
The Lakeport Police Department thanked the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff-elect Martin and Garzoli for their attention to detail and their assistance in all stages of the investigation.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Sheriff, supervisors, other elected officials to take oaths of office Tuesday
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County's new sheriff, along with the new District 3 supervisor and other officials who were reelected in the June and November elections will take their oaths of office next week.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place during the Board of Supervisors' meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6.
The ceremony will be held shortly after the beginning of the meeting, at which time outgoing District 3 Supervisor will offer farewell remarks and county officials will make presentations to her.
Those taking their oaths on Tuesday will include Sheriff-elect Brian Martin, who won election in a field of three in June; Jim Steele, who succeeds Rushing and won a runoff election in November; Jeff Smith, reelected in a November runoff to represent District 2; District Attorney Don Anderson, reelected to a second term in June; new Assessor-Recorder Richard Ford; and Auditor Controller-County Clerk Cathy Saderlund and Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen, board appointees who both ran unopposed and were elected for the first time in June.
Following the oaths of office, the Board of Supervisors will elect the board chair and vice chair for the coming year.
They also will elect the representative and alternate to the Regional Council of Rural Counties and to the RCRC affiliate joint powers authority California Home Finance Authority Board of Directors; the chair and vice chair of the Lake County Local Board of Equalization; the chair and vice chair of the Lake County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Board of Directors; and make other board appointments.
Also on Tuesday, the supervisors will appoint or reappoint their respective members to the Lake County Planning Commission.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Clearlake courthouse damaged by graffiti; gang believed responsible
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Superior Court's Southlake Division courthouse was damaged by graffiti vandalism last week.
The damage at the Clearlake courthouse, located at 7000 A South Center Drive, was discovered by an employee on the morning of Dec. 23, according to officials.
Lake County Superior Court Chief Executive Officer Krista LeVier said the graffiti was located on the front of the building and on both sides of the front entrance.
“We reported the tagging to Clearlake Police and will be turning over the security video footage we have of the incident,” LeVier said.
Clearlake Police Sgt. Nick Bennett said the building had last been secured at 5 p.m. Dec. 22, and an employee arriving at the building at 7:30 a.m. Dec. 23 discovered the vandalism.
Bennett said the graffiti included a picture of a Christmas tree spray painted in blue, spray painting on the parking lot, gang symbols and some profanity.
He said that the graffiti appears to be the work of members of the Nortenos street gang.
Since September 2008, the courthouse has been owned by the state. As such, LeVier received estimates back from Judicial Council facilities staff for repairs.
She said the estimated cost to remove all the graffiti is approximately $3,300.
The Southlake Division handles cases including child support, traffic infractions, non-traffic infractions, small claims and unlawful detainer cases, according to the Lake County Superior Court Web site.
The division had previously handled criminal cases as well, until those cases were moved to the Lakeport courthouse in August 2012 as a cost-saving measure, as Lake County News has reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at