How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Lakeport Police logs: Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
00:00 EXTRA PATROL 2601100001
Occurred at Lake County Law Library on 3D....
Police arrest Clearlake man in sexual assault case
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been taken into custody based on allegations of sexual assault.
Scott Coleman Anderson, 48, was arrested on Wednesday morning, according to Sgt. Nick Bennett of the Clearlake Police Department.
At 2:40 a.m. Wednesday Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake on a report of a female who had been brought there and was possibly a victim of a sexual assault, Bennett said.
Officers determined the 51-year-old female had been found lying alongside the road by a passing motorist in the area of Arrowhead Road and Colusa Street, according to Bennett.
Bennett said an initial investigation by Officer Brad Middleton indicated the alleged victim had been at a residence on Arrowhead Drive earlier and the male occupant of the residence began to make advances toward her. When she resisted those advances, the suspect forced himself on her and sexually assaulted her.
The alleged victim was finally able to flee the residence and fell to the ground a short distance from the residence. There she was seen by the passing motorist who picked her up and took her to the hospital, Bennett said.
Clearlake detectives were called in to take over the investigation. Bennett said further investigation resulted in the arrest of Anderson, who resides on Arrowhead Road.
Anderson was booked into Lake County Jail on felony charges of rape by force, oral copulation, sexual penetration with a foreign object and sexual battery. Bail was set at $100,000, according to jail records.
Bennett said Clearlake Police acknowledged and thanked the Lake County Rape Crises Center for its assistance in this case.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
Sheriff’s recall proponents receive go-ahead to begin gathering signatures to get on ballot
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The proponents of an effort to recall the county’s sheriff received approval this week to begin the process of gathering signatures in order to make it onto the ballot later this year.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said she notified the recall proponents that they could begin the signature drive to take Sheriff Frank Rivero’s removal from office to a vote. That followed her approval of the format and language of the recall petitions based on state election code.
According to Fridley, the group has 120 days to gather a minimum of 7,026 signatures of registered Lake County voters, with the deadline being Aug. 15. The petitions may only be circulated by registered Lake County voters.
If the proponents want to have the recall election consolidated with the general district election on Nov. 5, she suggested they have the signed petitions submitted by June 17 in order to give her staff time to examine and verify the signatures.
That June date is 91 days before the Nov. 5 election; Fridley said once the Board of Supervisors issues the order of election, it must be held not less than 88 days, nor more than 125 days, later.
The Committee to Recall Rivero and Restore Integrity, www.recallrivero.com , which served Rivero with notice of intention to begin the recall process last month, said it has launched the effort because of his unethical and unprofessional conduct, his failure to keep campaign promises such as forming a citizens’ oversight committee and alienating law enforcement.
However, the group said the main motivation was District Attorney Don Anderson’s decision in February to place Rivero on a list of officers with credibility issues.
Anderson made that decision after spending nearly two years investigating allegations that Rivero lied about a 2008 nonfatal shooting.
Rivero, then a deputy sheriff, shot at a man holding a can of pepper spray, a violation of department policy. According to Anderson’s report, Rivero originally told investigators that he saw the man holding the pepper spray, later changing his story to claim he couldn’t see it.
The recall proponents said that people who want to sign the petitions don’t have to worry about retaliation, as the forms will not be available for anyone to see them.
Fridley confirmed that no one, other than election officials and the committee itself – and in the case of the latter, only if they have insufficient signatures – can look at the forms. She said that is part of the election code and is meant to protect people from repercussions for supporting recalls.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Clearlake Police Department introduces new phone system in response to large call volume
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department said it has instituted its new phone system in response to an increasing call volume.
People who call the department now are routed into a phone tree, rather than getting a live person, which Chief Craig Clausen said is because of the impacts on the small department’s dispatch center.
Clausen told the Clearlake City Council last week that his agency received nearly 12,000 calls last quarter.
All of those calls – many of them nonemergency or seeking general community information – were routed through the dispatch center, Clausen explained.
“It was inundating them,” he said, especially with only one dispatcher on duty.
The new phone system resulted, he said.
“So far it has worked amazingly well,” said Clausen.
Some community members have complained to Lake County News that they found the new system confusing and difficult to navigate, as well as being slower.
The system can be navigated as follows, according to Nicole Newton, the agency’s records and communications supervisor.
If you have an emergency, hang up and dial 911.
Press 1 if you know your party’s extension; once you hear the city hall greeting, enter the extension you wish to reach.
Press 2 to report a crime, request police response or reach the records department.
Press 3 to reach Clearlake Animal Control for nonemergencies.
Press 4 to reach property or evidence.
Press 5 for sex, narcotic, or arson registrations or to obtain a second hand dealer license.
Press 6 to reach volunteers or the “You Are Not Alone” – or YANA – program.
Some key direct extensions are evidence, 308; animal control, 115; and sex offender registrations, 320.
Newton said that all reports and incidents must go to dispatch first and then an officer will be assigned to the case.
She said citizens should not directly contact an officer to make a new report. “The only time the citizen should be contacting the officer directly is if they have an open, ongoing case with that officer.”
Newton explained that the department does not have unlimited incoming lines, so it is possible to get a busy signal if all the lines are busy.
“We often only have one dispatcher on duty at a time, so we ask the public to be patient and we will answer their calls as soon as possible,” she said.
The full roster of extensions, which the department also published on its Facebook page, is shown below.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Clearlake Police Department Roster
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force arrests one for meth
NICE, Calif. – The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force arrested a local man on drug-related charges earlier this week.
Christopher James Bynum, 54, of Nice was taken into custody in the case, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Brooks said that on Tuesday, April 16, at approximately 4:15 p.m., narcotics detectives conducted a vehicle stop in the area of Sutter Street and Lakeview Drive in Nice.
They contacted the driver, identified as Bynum, and asked to see his driver’s license, Brooks said.
When Bynum opened his wallet to retrieve his license, narcotics detectives noticed a hypodermic needle and syringe in plain view, according to Brooks.
Bynum was arrested for possessing drug paraphernalia used for injecting a controlled substance, Brooks said.
During a search, detectives located a plastic bag in Bynum’s possession which contained methamphetamine. Brooks said Bynum also was arrested for the possession of a controlled substance.
Brooks said Bynum was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.
Jail records indicated Bynum later was released.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports