Clearlake Police K9 helps capture suspect following pursuit

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police took a Clearlake man into custody on Thursday morning with the help of a police K9.

“Dex” was used to apprehend 30-year-old Sean Brooks, who first tried to elude police in a vehicle before fleeing on foot, according to Lt. Tim Celli of the Clearlake Police Department.

Celli said that just before 8 a.m. Thursday Clearlake Police Officer Travis Lenz was on patrol and saw a suspicious vehicle on Valley Avenue.

After the vehicle drew Lenz's attention by making some unusual turns, Celli said Lenz began to follow it.

Celli said the vehicle made an abrupt turn onto Carol Avenue from Valley Avenue. Lenz passed the street and then turned around, at which point he saw the vehicle approaching Valley Avenue from Carol Avenue.

Once the driver – later identified as Brooks – saw Lenz approaching, he immediately began backing in an unsafe manner down Carol Avenue. Celli said Lenz attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle but Brooks sped up in reverse in an obvious attempt to evade the officer.

Brooks then spun his vehicle around and hit a chain link fence on the east side of the roadway, Celli said. Brooks attempted to get out of the vehicle on the driver side, but Lenz positioned his patrol car near the driver’s door in order to block Brooks' path.

Celli said Brooks got out of the vehicle on the passenger side and fled on foot, with Lenz chasing him through several yards and across several residential streets before losing sight of him in the area of Highlands Way and Vista Robles.

Clearlake Police officers set up a perimeter around the residential neighborhood, where several neighbors alerted officers that they had seen the suspect run through a yard to a vacant house located on Vista Robles Avenue, Celli said.

Officer Mike Carpenter and his Police K9 Dex arrived on scene. Celli said Dex found Brooks hiding under a pile of debris under the abandoned house.

When Brooks resisted, Dex bit him, Celli said.

Brooks, who was wanted on felony parole violations, was taken into custody without further incident. Celli said Brooks suffered only minor injuries and was treated and released from the hospital shortly after being taken into custody.

He said Brooks was booked into the Lake County Jail for felony parole violations, resisting police, evading police while in a vehicle, driving on a suspended driver license, hit and run and possession of narcotics paraphernalia.

Celli said police thanked all of the citizens who helped police by as they were searching for Brooks in the neighborhood.

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Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 13 December 2012

Clearlake Oaks sheriff’s substation matter to go to county space committee

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday forwarded the ongoing matter of trying to find a suitable Clearlake Oaks sheriff’s substation location to the county space committee after the sheriff’s office refused to occupy a space the county gave it.

In November, the board voted to have the sheriff’s office utilize an empty county-owned building at
12580 Acorn St., preferring to pursue an inexpensive initial option rather than purchasing a location.

The board also voiced concerns over the availability of funds; a needs assessment of the Lake County Jail is set to take place and a jail expansion could cost as much as $22 million, in which case the county would have to supply a $600,000 match.

However, Sheriff Frank Rivero’s staff informed the County Administrative Office on Nov. 29 that the space was too small and they would instead stay at the Lower Lake substation, which shares space with the Lake County Superior Court’s Clearlake branch.

On Tuesday, Rivero continued to dismiss a number of alternatives the board offered, insisting that a property at 12539 Shady Lane in Clearlake Oaks – which earlier was reported to cost $325,000 with $93,000 in needed renovations – is ideal and that the other locations created “public safety” issues.

Rivero was accompanied to the meeting by his command staff, including Undersheriff Pat Turturici, Lt. Steve Brooks and Capt. Chris Macedo, who sat with him at a table before the board. Also with the group but sitting in the audience was Sgt. John Gregore, secretary of the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

During the meeting, Supervisor Anthony Farrington would question why Rivero was bringing several staffers with him to each meeting and wasting so many taxpayer dollars in the process.

County Administrative Officer Matt Perry explained that Rivero’s refusal to use the Acorn Street location and instead remain in Lower Lake is causing other issues.

Perry said his office has been in long-running negotiations with the state Administrative Office of the Courts, which owns the building and wants to take over the substation portion by the end of February.

The state charges the county “exorbitant” maintenance costs, said Perry. “We are really anxious to move out of that building,” he said, noting the sheriff’s office also had been anxious to leave it last spring. Wherever the substation would move would be less expensive than the court building, he said.

Public Services Director Caroline Chavez said the last quarterly bill for maintenance the county received from the state was for $3,300, with utilities running about the same per quarter. She estimated the county was spending at least $10,000 annually just on the building’s maintenance.

Perry said his office wanted to reconsider taking a space at the Big Oak Shopping Center. The previous manager had offered to let the county rent the space for $1 a month before retracting the offer after he said Rivero insulted it and made false statements about the property, as Lake County News has reported.

Deputy Administrative Officer Alan Flora said he has started discussing a possible lease offer with the  new manager. It won’t be $1 a month – the ownership stated it wasn’t aware of that offer – but they were responsive to renting the 2,250-square-foot space for less than the $1,500 per month the space rents for generally. Some renovations would be necessary, including a bathroom compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Rivero claimed that he had met with the Deputy Sheriff’s Association on Monday and they had unanimously agreed with him that neither the Acorn Street location nor the shopping center would properly accommodate sheriff’s staff.

Rivero wanted to return to discussing the Shady Lane location. “We need someplace to operate. This is an issue of public safety.”

He said the Shady Lane property owner has dropped the price and made concessions, and he wanted to keep his staff in Lower Lake indefinitely until they can establish a proper location.

Board Chair Rob Brown said that having the board approve the plan would blatantly violate a new county policy – adopted earlier in the meeting – that establishes a uniform process of county review for leasing and purchasing properties.

Rivero said he didn’t know about the policy. “You knew it was coming, or you should have known, anyway,” Brown replied.

A solution was needed, said Rivero, who suggested that everyone needed “to lay down the sword for a minute” and agree.

Brown asked if the Acorn Street location was a no go. Rivero said yes. Brown pointed out that when he asked Rivero that same question during an October discussion of the subject, he had said no.

In reply, Rivero said he had officer safety concerns. Brown suggested putting the matter through the county space committee, per the new county property policy.

Supervisor Jeff Smith said the board’s first choice as an interim solution had been the shopping center. “The biggest thing was, we wanted to get a substation open yesterday because the citizens of Clearlake Oaks wanted it open yesterday.”

Now they are facing months to get into a new location. Due to the costs of the Lower Lake substation, “I say that we get out of there as soon as we possibly can,” Smith said.

Smith said he had spoken to Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta, who said he had space in two of his fire stations – one in Lower Lake and one in Clearlake – available to the sheriff’s office on an interim basis. He also wanted to know what was so bad about the Big Oak Shopping Center space.

Rivero said there were issues of decorum and permanency and that his staff needed a safe place to operate. The Shady Lane location was “as close to perfect as we’re going to find,” he said.

“The sheriff’s office needs to have the cooperation of this board in order to function properly and to keep morale up and to have a good place and an appropriate place and a functional place to provide the citizens of this county proper public safety. If we’re hamstrung in doing that, that’s a problem,” said Rivero.

Rivero said the process had been unnecessarily difficult and the landowner has come down “astonishingly” in price. He said he has sheriff’s rural funds available to buy the building, with the owner also offering financing and a lease option.

Supervisor Jim Comstock said there are options, and the county can get out of the court building immediately. He said another building had been available in Lower Lake, which Rivero interjected was further away than the current substation.

“That isn’t even the issue,” said Comstock. When Rivero replied that it was, Comstock said, “Sheriff, I’m speaking.”

Comstock said the negotiations need to be done through the County Administrative Office. He said the board wants to have a substation in Clearlake Oaks – he said the citizens deserve it – and that the board was being proactive in trying to make it happen.

Farrington had questions about square footage and parking, and pointed out that the Big Oak Shopping Center space was bigger than the 1,200 square feet that the Middletown substation has.

Rivero said at the Middletown substation – where the work recently was put on hold at the board’s direction – a rear building on the property was renovated first because they knew the front building needed substantial work.

“Like a foundation,” replied Farrington.

Rivero told the board that he had the support of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and that “this isn’t just me bringing this to you,” adding, “We’re a united front here on this.”

Supervisor Denise Rushing asked how soon a decision had to be made in order to vacate the Lower Lake substation by the end of February.

Chavez said the board would need to establish where to move and then she said the shopping center could be made ready within a few weeks. Minimal construction was required outside of the new ADA-compliant bathroom. The Shady Lane location would take considerably more time, Chavez said.

Rushing suggested that if the board made a decision by the first week in January, the substation could be moved into a new building by the end of February. She said she wanted all available options on the table.

Flora said the shopping center location will require an estimated $3,500 to renovate.

Smith said he preferred the shopping center location. He said his first choice also would be the Shady Lane location, but not for the cost.

“When it comes down to it, when we have to make the tough decision, we’re trying to make one that’s going to be good for everybody,” Smith said.

Smith added that he was getting the feeling that if the board didn’t agree to Shady Lane, no alternatives would be considered. “That’s not fair to the public.”

He told Rivero, “I just hope you keep open minded enough to serve the public, because that’s what we’re all here to do is serve the public.”

“It’s not Shady Lane or nothing,” said Rivero, who maintained that very few buildings in the area would be appropriate.

“The real issue here is what’s appropriate for public safety and for the men and women of the sheriff’s office,” Rivero said.

Brown said the board was going to follow its new policy and send the matter to the county space committee. Chavez noted that the committee includes all of the “key players” from the County Administrative Office and the Community Development Department.

Brown suggested the space committee meet in the next week in order to move the matter forward.

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.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 12 December 2012

Police search for suspect in Sunday grocery store armed robbery

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police are continuing to look for the suspect in the Sunday morning armed robbery of a Clearlake grocery store.

Ray’s Food Place was the target of the robbery, as Lake County News has reported.

Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli said officers were dispatched to the store, located at 15930 Dam Road, at 7:30 a.m. Sunday on the report of an armed robbery with shots being fired.

Celli said when officers arrived they contacted a store employee and learned that the suspect – believed to be a white adult male wearing camouflage clothes, a ball cap and a black face mask – walked into the grocery store carrying a rifle.

The suspect ordered a store employee to hand over money and then fired a single shot into the store’s ceiling, Celli said. The store employee handed money over to the suspect, who then began to leave.

As the suspect was leaving the store, a second employee confronted the suspect and attempted to wrestle the rifle from him but was unsuccessful, Celli said.

Celli said the suspect continued out of the store and then fired two more rounds at store windows, causing them to shatter. The suspect then headed southbound on foot, through the parking lot and into an adjacent field.

Officers used two separate police dogs to track the suspect’s direction. Celli said the K9s tracked the suspect’s trail to a turnout area east of Dam Road where it is believed the suspect got into a vehicle and fled in an unknown direction.

As of Monday morning, Celli said there was no further description on the vehicle.

He said the suspect is believed to be a white male, approximately 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.

The amount of money stolen is being withheld for investigatory reasons, Celli said.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.

Details

Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 10 December 2012