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Police make arrests during ABC enforcement operations
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Several people were arrested late last week during a Clearlake Police operation targeting illegal alcohol use.
On Friday, March 15, Clearlake Police officers conducted Alcohol Beverage Control enforcement operations in the city of Clearlake, according to Lt. Tim Celli.
Celli said this enforcement was made possible through a $5,000 Alcohol Beverage Control Grant that the police department received in February. The funds will be used for overtime pay to conduct these operations.
Celli said the grant primarily is used to conduct shoulder tap-type operations in which a minor decoy will approach an adult suspect and request an adult to purchase an alcoholic beverage for them. Once the suspect provides alcohol to the minor decoy, the crime is complete.
Often during these operations, officers will discover other violations of law which have resulted in arrests for crimes other than furnishing alcoholic beverages to minors, according to Celli.
During the March 15 operations police arrested seven individuals for various reasons, Celli said.
Thomas Nordahl was booked into the Lake County Jail for agreeing to and arranging a narcotics deal with an undercover officer, Celli said. Although Nordahl did not actually furnish the undercover operative with narcotics, Nordahl made a deal and accepted money for narcotics, a violation of 11382 HS.
In addition, Celli said Nordahl, who is on state parole, was discovered to be in possession of a glass smoking pipe often used for smoking methamphetamine.
Other arrests include Chelsea Dawson, who was booked into the Lake County Jail for possession of a methamphetamine pipe; Mark Rodriguez, arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance; Marcus Davis, arrested for a felony warrant; Laura Sarver, arrested and cited for furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a minor decoy; Dino Tarolli, arrested and cited for furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a minor decoy; and Earl Duty, cited and arrested for furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a minor decoy, Celli reported.
Several more of these operations are scheduled throughout the spring and into the beginning of summer with grant funding through June, Celli said.
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Clearlake Police seek armed robbery suspects
Police are searching for two male suspects who allegedly robbed a Clearlake business at gunpoint on Tuesday.
Clearlake Police Officers responded to a reported armed robbery at the Allied Cash Advance store, located at 14888 Olympic Drive in the Burns Valley Mall, at approximately 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, the agency reported.
Witnesses reported two suspects entered the business and ordered the three employees and lone customer to the ground at gunpoint, police reported. The suspects had one of the employees open the registers before removing an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspects then fled the business on foot and were last seen running through the breezeway towards the alleyway of the shopping center, according to the report.
The two suspects were in and out of the store within a minute or two, according to Clearlake Police.
Clearlake Police described the one suspect as a black male adult, about 6 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin, skinny build. He was last seen wearing black clothes with a hoodie-type sweatshirt pulled up over his face, possibly holding a semiautomatic-type handgun.
The second suspect is described as a black male adult, shorter than the first suspect, with a heavier build. Police said the second suspect also was wearing black clothing with a hoodie-type sweatshirt pulled up over his head.
Police have identified a possible suspect vehicle as a white two-door Toyota Solara with gold-colored letters on the rear of the vehicle.
The possible suspect vehicle was last seen heading up Olympic Drive at a high rate of speed toward Highway 53, the Clearlake Police Department reported.
These suspects should be considered armed and dangerous, and police said no attempt should be made to make contact them. Anyone who sees them should notify police immediately.
Anyone with information about this robbery or possible suspects should contact Officer Arron Winslow at 994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.
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Sheriff served with notice of recall
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Just before a Tuesday morning Board of Supervisors discussion was set to begin on whether or not to take a no confidence vote on the county's sheriff and seek his resignation, a newly formed citizens committee served the sheriff with a notice that a recall effort was getting under way.
Sheriff Frank Rivero was served with the notice by a group that is calling itself the Committee to Recall Rivero and Restore Integrity, according to its spokesman, retired Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Rivera.
After nearly three hours of discussion and public input, the board voted unanimously that it had no confidence in Rivero's leadership of the sheriff's office and that it would seek his resignation.
Afterward, Rivero refused to respond to a Lake County News reporter's request for reaction to the supervisors' vote.
Following the meeting, Rivera, who served 27 years with the sheriff's office and retired after Rivero came into office, said signature gathering for the recall effort is set to begin.
He outlined the reasons for seeking the sheriff's recall, noting that many of the committee members included people who once had supported the sheriff. The full committee membership has not yet been released.
Rivera said that the sheriff's integrity is an issue as is a string of broken promises, compounded by District Attorney Don Anderson's finding in February that Rivero lied during a 2008 nonfatal shooting while Rivero was working as a deputy sheriff. Rivera said the shooting – involving a man who was holding a can of pepper spray, not a lethal weapon – was unjustified.
“We feel it's actually our duty to initiate this recall,” said Rivera.
He said the committee believes Rivero has dishonored the county's citizens, and hurt the credibility of the sheriff's office through unethical actions and decisions.
According to the committee, Rivero tried to withhold from the public his false testimony about the shooting.
Anderson's finding that Rivero lied resulted in Rivero being placed on a list of “Brady” officers, under the 1963 US Supreme Court decision Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to divulge to defendants in criminal cases any exculpatory evidence.
Rivero's Brady finding makes him the first known sheriff in California to have had such a finding. Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, or PORAC, told Lake County News in a previous interview that the association is not aware of any sheriff or police chief in California ever having received a Brady determination before.
The Brady finding, according to Rivera and the committee, is a key motivating factor for the recall.
Rivera said the Brady finding nullified the public trust necessary for Rivero to lead the sheriff's department and put the taxpayers of the county on the hook for costly lawsuits, such as the one Rivero now has against Anderson over the Brady matter.
Another factor, according to Rivera, is that the sheriff has alienated himself from every law enforcement agency in the county with his “unethical and erratic behavior and lack of integrity.”
“The committee believes Rivero should do the honorable thing and resign,” Rivera said, adding that the citizens can't afford a sheriff with a demonstrable record of dishonesty.
Rivero has fired reserves, caused many experienced officers to leave because of his “erratic” behavior, lost the control of the Office of Emergency Services – which Rivera had coordinated during his time with the agency and said was a “terrible loss” for the sheriff's office – and failed to follow up on his campaign promise to create a citizens advisory board intended to make the department more transparent.
Rivera said the committee believes Rivero has spent so much time dealing with what he believed to be corruption in county government – an issue he raised at the board meeting on Tuesday – that he has failed to actually fulfill the responsibilities of the job of sheriff.
“We want to bring this recall to the public so that they can certainly make a choice,” said Rivera.
Present for the Tuesday discussion was retired Lake County Sheriff Ray Benevedes, who Rivera said had hired him back when he first arrived in Lake County from Humboldt County, where he had been a reserve deputy for two years.
After Benevedes left office, he was followed by Sheriff James Wright, who served one term. Early in that term, according to Rivera, the Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association gave Wright a no confidence vote. Wright would be succeeded by Rod Mitchell, who Rivero defeated in November 2010.
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Sheriff’s no confidence vote, public broadcasting and library matters go before supervisors this week
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors is set to take up a proposed vote of no confidence on the county’s sheriff this week, and also will hear a presentation on making public television available for free locally and consider closing the Middletown Library temporarily as operations move to the new library in the town.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. The meeting will be broadcast live on TV8.
The board’s proposed no confidence vote on Sheriff Frank Rivero is scheduled for 10 a.m. At the same time, the board will discuss seeking the sheriff’s resignation.
Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Rob Brown, in their memo to the board, cite a number of concerns about Rivero’s leadership of the sheriff’s office, as well as the District Attorney’s Office’s recent finding that Rivero lied about his actions during a nonfatal February 2008 shooting.
In other board business, at 9:15 a.m., the board will hear a presentation regarding options to provide Lake County residents with over-the-air public television.
Larry Stratton, chief engineer and operating officer of KRCB Channel 22 in Rohnert Park, will make the presentation.
The matter is going before the board at the request of Lucerne resident Jon Nelson, who wants public television shows like “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company” to be available to local children.
In an untimed item, the board will consider a request to close Middletown’s Gibson Library from March 26-April 1 in order to move into the new Middletown Library building.
Also on Tuesday, the board will present a proclamation at 9:10 a.m. designating March 19, 2013, as National Agriculture Day.
The full agenda follows.
TIMED ITEMS
9 a.m. A-1 to A-4: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.
9 a.m., A-5: Administer oath of office to the planning commissioners for Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5.
9:05 a.m.: Citizen’s input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the clerk of the board’s office, first floor, courthouse).
9:10 a.m., A-5: Presentation of proclamation designating March 19, 2013, as National Agriculture Day.
9:15 a.m., A-6: Presentation regarding options to provide Lake County residents with over-the-air public television.
9:45 a.m., A-7: Presentation of countywide plan for child care and development planning council services.
10 a.m., A-8: Consideration of vote of no confidence and request for resignation of Sheriff Frank Rivero.
NONTIMED ITEMS
A-9: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.
A-10: Consideration of appointments to the Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health Advisory Board and Middletown Cemetery District.
A-11: Consideration of request to approve out-of-county travel for three Medical Reserve Corps volunteers to attend the Medical Reserve Corps Round-up training in Ojai, Calif., from May 3-5, 2013.
A-12: Consideration of request to close Middletown Library from March 26-April 1 in order to move into the new Middletown Library building.
A-13: Consideration of proposed agreement between the County of Lake and Forensic Medical Group for forensic pathology services.
CLOSED SESSION
A-14: 1.Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, M. Perry, and A. Flora; and (b) Employee Organization: Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association, Lake County Employees Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.
A-14: 2. Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Michael Fowler and Emily Ford v. County of Lake, et al., Case No. CV412464.
CONSENT AGENDA
C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on March 12, 2013.
C-2: Adopt proclamation designating March 19, 2013, as National Agriculture Day.
C-3: Approve first amendment to agreement between the county of Lake (AODS) and Hilltop Recovery Services for FY 2012-2013 residential treatment services, for an increase of $15,000, and authorize the chair to sign.
C-4: Approve second amendment to agreement between the county of Lake (Mental Health) and Hilltop Recovery Services for FY 2012-13 residential treatment services, for an increase of $20,000, and authorize the chair to sign.
C-5: Approve letter of support to the California Department of Food and Commission Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for Phase II grant application “Building Sustainability in the Vineyard: Practical Application, Training and Study”, and authorize all Supervisors to sign.
C-6: Approve second amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Quincy Engineering Inc., for engineering services for replacement of the St. Helena Creek Bridge, No. 14C-0072, at Hilderbrand Drive near Middletown, an increase of $17,700, and authorize the chair to sign.
C-7: Waive 900 hour limit for extra help Office Assistant I Jennifer Meyer.
C-8: Adopt Resolution temporarily prohibiting parking and authorizing removal of vehicles and ordering the Department of Public Works to post signs (Hartmann Road, Hidden Valley, on March 23, 2013, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.).
C-9: (a)Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2012-107 establishing positions and allocations to conform to the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013, Budget Unit No. 1903, Department of Public Works (delete one (1) 0.5 FTE Office Assistant II and one (1) 1.0 FTE Accounting Technician, Senior, and add (1) 1.0 FTE Office Assistant II and one (1) 0.5 FTE Accounting Technician, Senior); and (b) Adopt Resolution amending Resolution No. 2012-107 establishing positions and allocations to conform to the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-13, Budget Unit No. 1903, Water Resources Department (delete one (1) 1.0 FTE Fiscal Technician and one 0.5 FTE Office Assistant II, and add one (1) 0.5 FTE Accounting Technician, Senior and one (1) 1.0 FTE Office Assistant II).
C-10: Resolution approving the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to apply for the State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Vehicle Grant funds.
C-11: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and County of Glenn for FY 2012-13 Child Welfare Services (CWS)/Case Management System (CMS) training services, in the amount of $15,824, and authorize the Social Services Director to sign.
C-12: Approve request to waive 900 hour limit for extra-help Victim Advocate I Tatsuhiro Suzuki.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
031913 BOS - Rivero No Confidence Vote by LakeCoNews
030413 Lake County District Attorney's Final Report Regarding Sheriff Rivero Brady determination by LakeCoNews
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