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The Lake County Sheriff's Office received three separate calls and responded each time to the rancheria on Monday, according to Capt. James Bauman.
Batsulwin Brown, Elem Colony's vice chair, said the conflict had arisen over the Nov. 14 recall of Tribal Chair Geraldine Johnson.
He said Johnson is contesting the recall.
Elem Colony has about 100 members. Johnson told Lake County News earlier this year that about 40 of the tribe's members live at the colony.
Brown said a faction of tribal members who oppose Johnson and who don't live on the rancheria were trying to take over Elem's new community center, which was dedicated in April, as Lake County News has reported.
“They actually tried to force their way in,” said Brown, which resulted in a call to the sheriff's office.
Bauman said the calls from Elem started coming in at about 8:30 a.m. Monday.
On that first call, the reporting party said there was a meeting at the tribal community center “and things were getting heated up,” with yelling reported inside the community center.
Bauman said a deputy responded to the situation, in which tribal members allegedly were threatening to jump others in the building's parking lot.
At about 9:15 a.m., a second call came in, reporting that a tribal elder had been shoved down the building's stairs, according to Bauman.
A deputy went back and took a report, spending about half an hour at the rancheria, Bauman said. The elder wasn't injured and no arrest was made.
The last call came in around 12:30 p.m. At that time, tribal members were reportedly taking equipment from the community center office. Bauman said the caller asked that a report be filed.
Brown said the tribe has provided information about the disputed recall to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and is awaiting a decision, which is expected in the first or second week of January.
Troy Burdick, superintendent of the BIA's Central California office, did not return a Monday call from Lake County News seeking comment.
The BIA's time lines for decisions in tribal disputes are hard to predict.
Late last year, Robinson Rancheria disenrolled 67 members. Forty-six tribal members appealed the decision to the agency, according to BIA official Fred Doka.
Doka told Lake County News last week that the BIA is still working on the Robinson case, and that they're trying to get to it as soon as possible, but they have no time frame for completion.
In late 1995 and into 1996, intertribal factions at the Elem Indian Colony were responsible for a series of shootings and violent crimes as part of a larger struggle over the tribe's casino, which was closed in October of 1995. The tribe's leadership even issued a emergency declaration.
More recently, the rancheria was the site of a large cleanup effort by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2006, during which the houses were rebuilt and contaminated fill from the nearly Sulphur Bank mercury mine was removed. The cleanup has sparked controversy, with some tribal members alleging that the EPA did significant archaeological damage during the operation.
The following year, the tribe disenrolled 25 members, including the last native speaker of the Elem language, as Lake County News has reported.
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Deputies arrested 23-year-old Christopher Andrew Puryear of Kelseyville at Gateway Ministries in Finley, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Last Friday night, sheriff's deputies responded to reports that an adult youth group leader at the church – known formerly as Big Valley Community Church, located on Big Valley Road – had been having inappropriate relations with at least one minor female youth group member.
Bauman said both a church elder and another youth group leader alleged that Puryear was spending an inordinate amount of time talking with and texting teenage girls involved in the youth group.
Deputies learned that on Nov. 25, Puryear had allegedly asked a 14-year-old female member of the youth group to come outside during a church function to talk, according to Bauman's report. When Puryear and the girl went outside, he allegedly made physical and sexual advances towards her and only stopped when he was interrupted by someone else exiting the church.
After several attempts to locate the 14-year-old girl the following day, deputies were able to interview the victim and positively identify the suspect as Puryear, Bauman said.
On Saturday evening, Puryear was located by deputies at the church where the offenses were reportedly committed and he was arrested, according to the report.
Puryear was subsequently booked at the Lake County Jail on felony charges of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child, forced oral copulation with a child, criminal threats and annoying a child under 18.
He remains in the Lake County Jail on an enhanced bail of $250,000.
The case is pending further investigation, including the identification of any other potential victims associated with the Gateway Ministries youth group, Bauman said.
The church did not return a message seeking comment.
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The Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for convicted attempted murderer and kidnapper William Clark Elwood on Dec. 9, according to District Attorney Jon Hopkins.
Hopkins said Elwood is serving a life sentence for a kidnapping for robbery and assault with intent to commit murder conviction in Lake County that occurred in November 1979. Elwood’s crime partner was Thomas J. Botkins.
The Life Parole Consideration Hearing was held at Corcoran State Prison where Elwood is incarcerated, Hopkins said. Elwood will not be eligible to have a subsequent parole consideration hearing for five more years.
The board denied Elwood for parole, finding that he poses an unreasonable risk of danger to society if released at this time, Hopkins reported. The commissioner and deputy commissioner based their decision on the brutality of the crime, which was carried out against a vulnerable victim with whom Elwood had a relationship of trust.
Elwood and Botkins repeatedly stabbed the victim with two pronged forks and beat him in his house and outside his house, taking his wallet and money, according to Hopkins. Then they took the victim in his own car to the Lower Lake Cemetery where they beat and stabbed him further.
After that they drove him out Morgan Valley Road about four miles and dragged him out of his car to beat him in the head with large rocks, leaving him for dead. However, Hopkins said a motorist happened by around 4 a.m. and picked the victim up and took him to the hospital.
Elwood and Botkins were arrested later that day by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Hopkins said.
He said that the victim was so badly beaten that the surgeon attempting to do reconstructive surgery asked for a photo of the victim in order to determine what he looked like before the attack.
In making its decision, the board also noted that Elwood has collected over 100 disciplinary writeups while in prison, many of them for violence, including a felony conviction for possession of a weapon in San Quentin. Elwood has had no serious disciplinary problems since 2005, for which Elwood credits his involvement in the Buddhist faith and teachings.
Hopkins represented Lake County at the Lifer Hearing. He told the board, “Mr. Elwood is not suitable for parole as he presents an unreasonable risk of danger to the public if released. His crime was extremely brutal, and committed with a crime partner where they ganged up on a vulnerable victim. It is a miracle that the victim lived after the senseless beating and being left for dead in an extremely deserted area of our county in the middle of the night.”
He also underlined Elwood’s performance in prison, which has resulted in numerous disciplinary incidents, and said Elwood is not doing enough to gain insight into his behavior to prevent future violent conduct.
In addition, Hopkins said Elwood's future plans are to get into a halfway house, and beyond that are unspecific and vague, which he said demonstrates a lack of an understanding of what he needs to do to not slip back into substance abuse and re-offend.
Hopkins also maintained that Elwood's future plans also do nothing to assure the public that he would not commit future violent acts.
“The crime Mr. Elwood committed could not have been any more cold and calloused than it was, leaving this victim with permanent physical and mental injuries,” Hopkins said this week. “The victim will never fully recover, and to protect the community from suffering future victims, I am gratified that the Board of Parole Hearings found Mr. Elwood unsuitable for parole.”
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Joey Len Gunter, 36, was arrested for burglary, possession of stolen property, vandalism and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a report from Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
On Sunday at 7:45 p.m. a 55-year-old woman returned to her cabin, located 13 miles out Spy Rock Road near Laytonville, in a very remote and inaccessible area of the county accessed through several locked gates, Smallcomb said. When she arrived she found a man she had never met before inside the cabin.
The woman confronted the trespasser – later identified as Gunter – and demanded he leave her house, Smallcomb said, but Gunter allegedly refused to leave and advanced aggressively toward her.
Smallcomb said the woman fired one warning shot into the air with a handgun, but the shot made no impression on Gunter, who continued to advance toward her.
The woman, who was accompanied by a male cousin, fled the area and contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. Smallcomb said the woman advised deputies that the subject who had taken over her home had been strangely aggressive and that he had access to firearms and ammunition inside the home.
Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies, assisted by a California Highway Patrol officer, responded to the cabin at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday, Smallcomb said. Due to the danger of confronting the potentially armed subject inside the home, a Mendocino County Sheriff's K-9 was sent into the home to apprehend the suspect.
MCSO K-9 "Dutch" apprehended the suspect in a bedroom, pulling the armed suspect to the ground, enabling officers to take Gunter into custody without a more serious use of force, Smallcomb said.
Gunter allegedly had armed himself with a .38 caliber revolver from the home, worn in a holster. Within arm's reach were a .30-.30 rifle and short-barreled 12-gauge shotgun. Smallcomb said all three weapons were loaded.
Deputies transported Gunter to the Mendocino County Jail, where he was booked on several felonies involving theft, vandalism, possession of stolen property and weapons violations.
The 12-gauge shotgun and a Yamaha four-wheel ATV found at the scene appeared to have been the product of other recent burglaries in the Spy Rock area, Smallcomb said. The suspect allegedly admitted to stealing from seven homes and seasonal-use cabins in the Spy Rock area over the last few months.
Anyone who has been the victim of a recent theft in that area or who has additional information regarding these crimes is asked to contact Deputy Clint Wyant of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at 707-459-7833.
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Napa County Fire Marshal Pete Muñoa reported that the fire was reported at 3:30 a.m. Monday at 445 Sky Oaks in Angwin.
Units and firefighters from Angwin and Pope Valley from the Napa County Fire Department and Cal Fire responded to the incident, which Muñoa said caused moderate damage to the second story family room.
He said smoke detectors were not installed in the home.
Three family members safely evacuated the residence while the tenant from the first floor used a garden hose to knock down the fire, Muñoa said.
The fire was reported extinguished at 4:14 a.m., but units remained at scene until 9 a.m. Muñoa said no injuries were reported.
He reported than an investigator from the Napa County Fire Marshal’s Office has been assigned to the incident.
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The quake was reported at 4:26 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
The agency reported that the quake was recorded two miles east southeast of The Geysers, four miles southwest of Cobb and four miles west of Anderson Springs at a depth of 2.7 miles.
The US Geological Survey received 76 shake reports from around California and one from Carson City, Nev.
Kelseyville, Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake residents reported feeling the quake, as did people in Humboldt and Napa counties. The most responses came from Healdsburg, in Sonoma County.
Reports also came from the Bay Area, including San Francisco, and as far away as Turlock and McKinleyville.
The 3.8-quake was followed by 12 smaller quakes – ranging in size from 1.0 to 2.0 in magnitude – in The Geysers and Cobb areas over the rest of the day.
A 3.7-magnitude earthquake was reported in The Geysers area on Nov. 24, as Lake County News has reported.
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