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Brandon Scott Saulter, 19, and Reginald Bruce Mills, 21, both of Lakeport, were arrested shortly before midnight on Monday, according to Lt. Brad Rasmussen of the Lakeport Police Department.
They are alleged to have burglarized Visions of Avatar, a medical marijuana dispensary just outside the city limits, according to Rasmussen.
Lakeport Police Officer Jake Steely was on patrol that night and saw the two men in the 2700 block of S. Main near Rotten Robbie's gas station. Rasmussen said Steely made a consensual contact with the two and found them in possession of marijuana.
Rasmussen said Steely recognized Mills as being on parole for a burglary charge, and Saulter had a misdemeanor arrest warrant out for him.
While doing a parole search of Mills, Steely found not just marijuana but t-shirts from the store and other property alleged to have come from the establishment. Rasmussen said Saulter allegedly was carrying a bag containing marijuana, marijuana pipes, a scale and other paraphernalia.
Steely determined they had just burglarized the dispensary and arrested the men for possession of stolen property and burglary tools, said Rasmussen. The Lake County Sheriff's Office added a burglary charge.
After arresting the men, Steely contacted the sheriff's office, which sent deputies to investigate the burglary.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said one of the suspects allegedly told deputies that they went to the dispensary with the intent to burglarize it.
He said deputies found that a hole had been pried in the building's tin siding in order to enter it. Smoking pipes and rolling papers were taken, and the suspects allegedly found and pried open a lock box containing an unknown amount of marijuana.
Bauman said investigators still aren't sure of exactly what was taken. “We're still waiting for an itemized list of items stolen from the business owners.”
Both Saulter and Mills remained in the Lake County Jail on Wednesday, according to jail records.
Lakeport has been hit by a rash of commercial burglaries over the past month, including a theft of about 20 firearms from a commercial storage locker earlier this week, as Lake County News has reported.
Rasmussen said police are investigating whether Saulter and Mills might have had anything to do with those earlier burglaries. “We don't know at this point for sure,” he said.
Bauman said he's been checking with sheriff's office sergeants about burglaries in other parts of the county.
So far he's heard back from Sgt. Gary Hall, stationed in Lucerne, who is reporting a spike in residential burglaries in that area. However, he said he doesn't currently have statistics on the crimes.
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The fire, reported just after 2 p.m., occurred in a home on Rosemont Drive, according to Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Jamie Crabtree.
The cause, said Crabtree, appeared to be a malfunctioning water heater.
“The homeowner noticed something wrong, came out and actually got the gas turned off,” said Crabtree.
Using a garden hose, the homeowner was able to control the fire, but by then it already had gotten into the attic space. Crabtree said Northshore Fire crews got there and opened up the attic to extinguish the fire.
Eight firefighters and four engines responded, Crabtree said. It took firefighters just over an hour to get the fire out and mop up the scene.
Crabtree estimated damage at between $5,000 and $10,000.
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The facsimile device was found by a Caltrans crew picking up trash along Highway 20 east of Highway 16 shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to California Highway Patrol Officer John Waggoner of the Williams CHP office.
Waggoner said the 8-inch-long object – found a short way off the roadway inside the Colusa County line – was constructed of PVC pipe, was a few inches in diameter and had caps on each end.
He said Caltrans immediately notified CHP, which in turn contacted the Butte County Sheriff's Office's explosives unit.
Waggoner said the bomb squad arrived at around 1 p.m., at which time the CHP completely closed down the highway.
He said Caltrans shut down traffic at Williams and CHP officers from the Clear Lake office diverted Highway 20 traffic onto Highway 16.
The bomb squad used a robot to help deal with the device, which they hit with a type of cannon that blew one side of it off, Waggoner said.
“They were able to see inside and saw that it was nothing,” said Waggoner, noting there were no explosives inside and no electronic device.
CHP's Ukiah Dispatch reported that the highway reopened shortly after 2 p.m.
Waggoner said such bomb scares aren't common occurrences.
“When we come across something like this we will take every precaution and make sure that it isn't an explosive device,” Waggoner said.
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Luke Wayne Jacobson, 25, was arrested for domestic violence, making terrorist threats, assault with a caustic chemical and violation of a court order, according to Lt. Ron Welch of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
On Jan. 2 shortly before 3:30 p.m. Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a reported domestic violence incident on East Side Road in Willits, Welch said.
Initial reports indicated the the suspect, Jacobson, had left the area in a pickup. Welch said it also was reported that Jacobson had allegedly poured diesel fuel onto the victim and she was having difficulty breathing.
The victim stated that she and Jacobson had an argument that turned physical, whereupon the victim stated said that she was hit, slapped, choked and threatened with death, Welch reported.
The fight continued outside when Jacobson pushed the victim onto the ground, restrained her and then poured diesel fuel onto the side of her neck and hair. Welch said the altercation was stopped by witnesses and Jacobson left the scene. The victim was visibly shaken, however she declined any medical attention.
While at the scene, Jacobson allegedly called the victim on her cell phone and he could be overheard by a deputy saying that he was his way back to kill her, Welch said.
Shortly thereafter he was observed driving by. Welch said the deputies had to run about 50 yards to their patrol units that were on the outside of a locked gate and lost visual contact with Jacobson.
The direction in which Jacobson drove away led them to Canyon Road where a witness told deputies that he observed a brown pickup driving at a high rate of speed towards Tomki Road, according to Welch.
The deputies alerted deputies from the Ukiah office, who intersected Jacobson on the Redwood Valley side of Tomki Road. Welch said Jacobson was arrested without incident.
Jacobson was booked into the Mendocino County Jail, with bail set at $50,000, according to jail records.
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The guilty verdicts in the trial of 28-year-old Ryan Odell Karr “send a clear message that driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is inexcusable and predictably tragic,” said Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua.
On Jan. 19, 2007, Karr was driving in commute-hour traffic at about 70 miles per hour on northbound Highway 101 at the Airport Boulevard overcrossing when he rearended a vehicle being driven by Edith Medina-Carlos, 23, according to Passalacqua's office.
Medina-Carlos’ vehicle immediately caught on fire and was subsequently engulfed in flames. Also traveling in Ms. Carlos’ vehicle and killed in the fiery accident was her son, Fernando Flores-Carlos, 7, and Windsor residents Maria Lopez Camacho, 54; Almadelia Mendera-Basurto, 16; and Carmina Solorio, 23, of Mexico.
Medina-Carlos and her other son, then 4-year-old Christian Flores Camacho, were pulled from the burning vehicle. The others burned to death in the vehicle. Medina-Carlos died the following day and Christian survived with serious burns, but later lost an arm, an ear and a leg.
Karr’s blood was taken at the scene of the collision and tested. It came back positive for cocaine and marijuana, Passalacqua said. Experts opined that Karr was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the collision. The jury also found that he was speeding.
Deputy District Attorney Victoria Shanahan was the assigned prosecutor on the case. She was assisted by District Attorney Investigator Greg Phillips.
California Highway Patrol Officer Ronald Cincera was the lead investigator in this case, assisted by other California Highway Patrol officers and Windsor Fire personnel.
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Marshall Wisterman, 35, was the victim of the shooting, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the shooting at the Lakeside Village Mobile Home Park in north Lakeport at around 8:30 p.m., with the Lakeport Police Department also responding to assist, according to Bauman.
Bauman said that when the first responders arrived at the scene, they found Wisterman lying in the hallway of his home with an apparent gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Wisterman was alive and as deputies secured the scene, rescue personnel from the Lakeport Fire Protection District responded in to treat his injuries and transport him to a waiting air ambulance, Bauman said.
Bauman said Wisterman ultimately was flown out of county for further treatment. Detectives with the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit were called out to the scene to assist with the investigation.
Preliminary information obtained at the scene revealed that an unidentified man had apparently come to Wisterman’s home and was allowed inside to talk to him, Bauman said.
The conversation between Wisterman and the visitor began to turn into an argument and when Wisterman took the man outside to get the confrontation away from his wife and children, a single gunshot was heard, according to Bauman.
Authorities believe the shooting occurred in or near one of the carports. Bauman said the suspect was gone on the deputies’ arrival and it is unclear at this point what the argument was about, or how Wisterman got back into his home after being shot.
Sheriff’s personnel processed the crime scene throughout the night and as of about 3:30 a.m. – when the scene was cleared – no suspect was in custody, Bauman said.
He said the shooting is pending further investigation and Wisterman’s condition is believed to be critical as of this release.
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