How to resolve AdBlock issue? 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
District attorney files anti-SLAPP motion against sheriff over Brady lawsuit
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County’s district attorney this week filed a motion to strike down the sheriff’s lawsuit against him, citing First Amendment protections in revealing the sheriff’s placement on a list of officers with credibility issues.
District Attorney Don Anderson filed the “anti-SLAPP” motion against Sheriff Frank Rivero, which is set to be heard at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, in Lakeport before retired Butte County Superior Court Judge William Lamb.
On May 7 Lamb also will consider the demurrer Anderson filed earlier this month, which seeks to have Rivero’s case dismissed for lack of merit.
With both the demurrer and anti-SLAPP, Anderson is asking the court to make Rivero personally pay for attorney’s fees.
An anti-SLAPP motion is meant to address what are called “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” according to the California Anti-SLAPP Project.
The motions generally require a plaintiff to prove at the start of the proceedings that they can win the case if it is to proceed.
“In this matter, Plaintiff has failed to state any facts that he could prevail on any cause of action,” Anderson wrote. “What Plaintiff is attempting to do is create new law where there is ample authority in opposition to his position.”
SLAPP suits generally are filed against people and organizations to prevent them from exercising their First Amendment rights of free speech and petitioning the government, the California Anti-SLAPP Project Web site explains.
Such suits often focus on matters like malicious prosecution and abuse of process, defamation, libel and slander.
In his filings, Anderson stated that Rivero is attempting to limit him from disclosing matters in the public interest, and that anti-SLAPP statutes supporting striking Rivero’s entire complaint.
Rivero is seeking to stop Anderson from disclosing either publicly or, as he’s required to do to meet his prosecutorial responsibilities, to criminal defendants that Rivero was placed on a “Brady” list of officers who are determined to have lied during the course of their duties.
“Brady” comes from the 1963 US Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to disclose to criminal defendants any exculpatory evidence, including information about credibility issues relating to peace officers involved in their cases.
After nearly two years of investigation, in February Anderson placed Rivero on the Brady list, having determined that Rivero lied to investigators about the actions he took during a February 2008 nonfatal shooting.
At that time Rivero, then a deputy sheriff, shot at a man with a can of pepper spray, a violation of sheriff’s office policy. Initially, reports indicated he told sheriff’s office investigators that he saw the pepper spray but later told them he couldn’t tell what the man held in his hand.
After the Brady determination, Rivero followed up by seeking a restraining order against Anderson with a view toward getting an injunction to stop the release of the information.
However, just before Rivero filed to stop the disclosures retired Judge David Herrick already had ordered the Brady information released to three Hells Angels members set to go on trial later this year for a fight with a rival gang member.
At a March 4 hearing, Lamb denied the restraining order application but allowed the rest of the case to move forward; however, he also unsealed all of the records related to Rivero’s Brady finding and also kept the hearing open, despite Rivero’s attempt to have it closed.
Rivero is alleging violation of his civil rights, invasion of privacy, and is seeking declaratory relief and a writ of mandate to have Anderson’s decision set aside.
California’s anti-SLAPP legislation is marking its 20th anniversary this year; it became law in 1993.
In California, anti-SLAPP suits often are used to deal with libel and slander cases. Locally, the Lake County Record-Bee successfully used an anti-SLAPP case to defend against a libel case filed against it by a local doctor in 2008, and to receive attorney fees, as Lake County News has reported ( http://bit.ly/151xeD9 ).
Anderson cites Code of Civil Procedure and case law that establishes that anti-SLAPP protections can be invoked by a public entity, and that such protections are granted to public employees when performing their duties.
In a 1996 Ventura County case, Bradbury v. Superior Court, the court ruled that “utterances by a district attorney on a matter of public interest, even if erroneous, promote the goals of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (First Amendment), i.e., the free interchange of ideas and the ascertainment of truth. To further this goal, we hold that Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, enacted to curtail SLAPP suits (strategic lawsuits against public participation), applies to a governmental entity and its representatives who are sued for their written and verbal comments concerning an official investigation.”
That same case also stated, “First Amendment principle applies here because the investigation, the report, and the utterances made thereafter involved a matter of public interest.”
The courts also have held that it’s in the best interests of the community that public officers investigating crimes and instituting criminal proceedings should be protected from harassment in the performance of that duty, Anderson’s filings state.
While Rivero has claimed his civil rights have been violated during the Brady process, Anderson wrote, “As in Bradbury v. Superior Court the case involves causes of action for civil rights violations and invasion of privacy. The Court held that these causes of actions are subject to the matters subject to the Anti-SLAPP protections, as they are matters of public interest.”
Anderson is seeking attorney’s fees, citing mandatory award of such fees in successful anti-SLAPP motions.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Police arrest Clearlake man on sex abuse allegations; additional victims sought
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been arrested for his alleged sexual abuse of several young victims, with police reporting that the investigation covered acts that allegedly were committed over decades.
Daniel Brazil Sr., 64, was arrested on Thursday, according to Sgt. Nick Bennett of the Clearlake Police Department.
Brazil is charged with three counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child, and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to Bennett.
In June 2012 the Clearlake Police Department was notified of allegations of sexual assaults that had occurred several years prior. The victims were young children at the time of the assaults, Bennett said.
He said Det. Ryan Peterson was assigned to investigate the case.
After months of contacting and interviewing involved parties – including victims, witnesses, relatives and out-of-state law enforcement authorities – Peterson was able to present a case to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office for a criminal complaint against Brazil, Bennett said.
Bennett said Clearlake Police detectives arrested Brazil on Thursday on a felony warrant issued by the Lake County Superior Court.
Brazil is being held on $550,000 bail, Bennett said.
Bennett said the investigation into the acts committed by Brazil covered several decades, and detectives believe there may be other victims who are reluctant to come forward.
Anyone with any information regarding this case can contact Det. Peterson at the Clearlake Police Department by calling 707-994-8251, Extension 320.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
Police arrest Clearlake man on suspicion of rape
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Tuesday Clearlake Police officers arrested a man who is alleged to have sexually assaulted his girlfriend.
Sgt. Nick Bennett said police arrested Jonathan Vega, 23, of Clearlake following a traffic stop.
On Saturday, April 6, at approximately 9 a.m. Clearlake Police were dispatched to a report of a sexual assault, Bennett said.
The 20-year-old victim reported she had returned home after an evening out with friends and had been sexually assaulted by her boyfriend, Bennett said.
After telling Vega that she did not want him in the residence anymore and their relationship was over, Vega allegedly began destroying her belongings and furniture, Bennett said. The woman subsequently took their two children and fled to safety.
Bennett said Clearlake Police detectives were notified and called in to conduct the investigation, with the suspect being identified as Vega.
He said Clearlake Police patrol officers and investigators conducted a search Saturday and Sunday for Vega but were unable to locate him.
They developed information that Vega would be traveling to St. Helena early Tuesday morning to work in a vineyard and the detectives had a description of the vehicle he would be in, according to Bennett.
On Tuesday at approximately 5:45 a.m. Clearlake Police detectives Ryan Peterson and Travis Lenz observed the vehicle Vega was reported to be riding in heading south toward Napa County. Bennett said a traffic stop was made and Vega was located in the passenger seat and arrested.
Vega was booked into the Lake County Jail for rape of a drugged victim, sex with a minor, sexual battery and battery on a non-cohabitating spouse. Jail records indicated his bail was set at $100,000.
While the alleged victim is not now a minor, Bennett said her relationship with Vega started when she was 16, allowing police to charge him with having sex with a minor.
Bennett said Clearlake Police wanted to acknowledge and thank the Lake County Rape Crisis Center for its assistance in this case.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
Vehicle fleeing police involved in wreck; injuries result, one arrested
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man was arrested Thursday night after he led police on a brief vehicle chase and, in doing so, crashed into another vehicle, causing injuries.
Eric V. Sagadin, 30, of Clearlake was arrested for allegedly driving the vehicle, according to Sgt. Martin Snyder of the Clearlake Police Department.
On Thursday just before 10 p.m. Officer Alan Collier was on patrol conducting traffic enforcement in the area of 23rd Avenue in the city of Clearlake, Snyder reported.
While patrolling, Collier noticed a Dodge truck driving recklessly, with Collier noticing other vehicle code violations as well, Snyder said.
The truck was traveling south on Irving Avenue, Snyder said. At one point prior to Collier attempting to stop the pickup, the officer saw the vehicle make an unsafe turn at a high rate of speed in the area of Irving Avenue and 23rd Avenue, causing the vehicle to slide out of control nearly striking a residential fence. Snyder said the Dodge truck backed away from the fence then sped away at a high rate of speed.
Snyder said Officer Collier attempted to conduct a traffic enforcement stop on the Dodge truck and the vehicle accelerated at a high rate of speed in an obvious attempt to evade the officer.
The vehicle continued fleeing from Collier, traveling southbound on Boyles Avenue in disregard for public safety, Snyder said.
As the vehicle approached the intersection of Boyles Avenue and 18th Avenue, it failed to slow down or stop for the posted stop sign at the intersection, Snyder said.
As the Dodge truck sped through the intersection, it collided with a 2002 Chevrolet Tracker that was traveling westbound on 18th Avenue. Snyder said the Dodge struck the passenger side door of the Chevrolet Tracker, causing both vehicles to come to a stop.
He said from the time Collier attempted to stop the vehicle to the time of the collision was less than 60 seconds.
Officers immediately requested rescue personnel from the Lake County Fire Protection District to the scene. Snyder said there were two adult females and one 5-month-old male child located by officers inside the Chevrolet Tracker.
The adult female driver and her 5-month-old son were transported to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake for precautionary measures and later released, Snyder said.
He said the second female passenger sustained major injuries and was flown via air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial hospital where she is listed in stable condition at this time.
Sagadin, the driver of the Dodge truck, was arrested on scene by officers, Snyder said.
Additionally, a female passenger in the Dodge truck, 21-year-old Clearlake resident Halie Askew, was detained on scene. Snyder said it was discovered during the investigation that she was the registered owner of the Dodge truck.
Sagadin initially stated his accelerator stuck. However in later interviews he admitted to officers that he did not have a driver license and fled because he was scared. The vehicle was secured for an inspection by the California Highway patrol, Snyder said.
The intersection of 18th Avenue and Boyles Avenue was closed down for approximately four hours, pending processing of the scene. Snyder said the California Highway Patrol was requested to the scene to assist with the traffic collision investigation.
Eric Sagadin was later booked into the Lake County Jail for felony evasion, causing great bodily injury, driving on a suspended driver license and other violations of the California Vehicle Code. Jail records showed his bail was set at $100,000.
He’s due to appear in court Wednesday, April 3, and jail records indicated he remained in custody on Friday afternoon.
Halie Askew was released on scene pending review of criminal charges by the Lake County District Attorney’s Office. Snyder said charges will be sought against Askew due to information discovered that she knowingly allowed an unlicensed driver to drive her vehicle in addition to having false registration tabs on the vehicle.
Snyder said alcohol does not appear to be a factor in this investigation.
Anyone with information in regard to this investigation is encouraged to contact Officer Alan Collier at the Clearlake Police Department, 707-994-8251, Extension 505.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
