How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
LAKE COUNTY – California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Tuesday that he plans to look into the case of a Carmichael man who is being tried for a fatal 2006 sailboat crash.
Sailors and supporters of 41-year-old Bismarck Dinius have posted dozens of messages on Brown's Facebook page since June 18, calling on Brown to take over handling of the case.
On the night of April 29, 2006, Dinius was at the tiller of a sailboat that was hit by a powerboat driven by Russell Perdock, an off-duty sheriff's deputy. Willows resident Lynn Thornton – fiancée of the sailboat's owner, Mark Weber – was mortally wounded and died days later at UC Davis Medical Center.
Dinius has been charged with vehicular manslaughter involving a boat because he allegedly was under way without running lights, which he, Weber and several witnesses dispute. He's also facing a boating under the influence charge because he allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.12 at the time of the crash. Perdock was not charged.
Dinius' attorney, Victor Haltom of Sacramento, has filed a motion to have District Attorney Jon Hopkins and his office recused from the case.
That motion – due to be heard June 30 – is Haltom's second attempt to have Hopkins and his office removed from the case.
The sailing community, which has been outspoken in its defense of Dinius since charges were filed against him in the spring of 2007, began posting on Brown's site late last week, calling the case everything from a “mess” to a “fiasco” and a “travesty.”
The first post, by Alan Bock, called on Brown to look into the case.
Most posts followed on Friday and over the weekend, with more sailors and supporters joining the effort on Monday and Tuesday.
Around 1 p.m. Tuesday Brown responded.
“Re: the Lake County comments on my wall – I’m talking to the DA and I’m looking into it. There’s conflicting claims – the preliminary hearing transcript is voluminous,” Brown wrote.
“I can confirm that's from him and that it speaks for itself,” Attorney General's Office spokesman Scott Gerber told Lake County News on Tuesday afternoon.
Gerber said he had no other information on the case or its status at this point.
Hopkins wouldn't confirm any discussions with Brown.
He told Lake County News on Thursday that he didn't want to comment on anything to do with the case at this time.
Hopkins, who said he is doing a “a complete in-depth analysis” of the case, is preparing for the June 30 motions hearing.
He announced on June 12 that he was moving forward with the prosecution, after taking over the case from Deputy District Attorney John Langan, who was the assigned prosecutor since the start of 2008.
Langan had told visiting Judge J. Michael Byrne at a hearing on May 19 – the original trial date – that he might have to drop the case if District Attorney's Office investigators weren't able to complete their investigation of new information by June 30, the new trial date Byrne set.
The new information included supporting statements about orders given to former sheriff's Sgt. James Beland, who said he wanted to give Perdock a breathalyzer test on the night of the crash but was forbidden to do so.
New witnesses also had come forward to allegedly place Perdock at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa in the hours before the crash, as Lake County News has reported.
Perdock told Lake County News last month that he didn't set foot on the resort that day.
Following Brown's online announcement, sailors continued to make posts on his Facebook wall, thanking him for considering the case.
By Tuesday night approximately 70 messages on the Dinius case had been posted since the first messages were left last week.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Harry Jon Waner's home on Highland and Second had been under guard by Lake County Sheriff's officials through Monday night, and it remained cordoned off on Tuesday as Lake County Arson Task Force investigators continued their work.
Northshore Fire personnel found human remains inside Waner's burned trailer on Monday, prompting a full investigation, as Lake County News has reported.
As of Tuesday, the coroner's office hadn't confirmed that it was the body of the 58-year-old Waner that firefighters had found, although he was reported to have been at home when the fire broke out.
A sheriff's official also didn't respond to an inquiry about the outcome of a Tuesday autopsy.
Waner's new wife, 53-year-old Sandra Jean Bronson, remained in the Lake County Jail with bail set at $250,000 as the investigation continues.
Sheriff's investigators arrested her on Monday after finding she had been at Waner's home the night before in violation of a domestic violence restraining order issued against her on June 15, according to Capt. James Bauman.
Bronson was due in court on Monday for arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of battery on a non-cohabitant for allegedly assaulting Waner on June 11, according to court records. She's due back in court on June 29 for disposition and setting of future court proceedings.
Officials have not indicated that any other charges against Bronson are forthcoming.
Waner had allegedly assaulted her on May 29 and was himself facing a misdemeanor charge of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse as a result.
A neighbor told Lake County News on Monday that the couple recently had married but weren't living together.
Both Bronson and Waner have lengthy legal records that stretch back as far as 1991 in Lake County.
In the case of Bronson, who works as a caregiver, she's faced prosecution for drugs, driving under the influence, perjury, welfare fraud and vandalism.
Waner had previous convictions in two separate domestic assault cases as well as for DUI, and also had been prosecuted on drug charges.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that deputies found the body of 19-year-old Pablo Macias of Redwood Valley on Tuesday afternoon.
His body was found at approximately 3:30 p.m. along the western shoreline near the old winery area, where he was last believed to have been, officials reported.
On June 16, Macias' friend, Paul Hansen, told Mendocino sheriff's deputies and Army Corps of Engineers rangers that he and Macias had been camping in that area when their small motor boat drifted about 40 yards off the shoreline, as Lake County News reported last week.
Hansen believed that Macias had attempted to swim out to the boat to bring it back to shore and drowned in the process, according to the sheriff's report.
Mendocino County officials and Army Corps of Engineers rangers conducted a search of the shoreline while Cal Star helicopter searched the lake from the air. Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Divers conducted an underwater search.
The investigation is continuing into Macias' death, officials reported. A forensic autopsy will take place later in the week.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
UKIAH – A Lake County woman sustained major injuries in a vehicle collision over the weekend.
Lenore Garcia, 56, of Lakeport was involved in the crash, which took place just after 1 p.m. near Ukiah on Highway 20 under the Highway 101 overpass, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. David Tafel.
Tafel said Garcia's vehicle rolled over.
Garcia sustained major injuries to her head, back, right femur and pelvis, said Tafel.
He added that Garcia may be at fault in the crash for an unsafe turning movement, but the crash is still being investigated so a formal finding hasn't been made.
REACH air ambulance transported Garcia to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Tafel said.
Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital spokesperson Katy Hillenmeyer reported that Garcia is in serious condition.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The US Geological Survey reported that a 3.0-magnitude earthquake occurred at 4:45 a.m. one mile north northwest of The Geysers, five miles west southwest of Cobb and seven miles west northwest of Anderson Springs.
The quake occurred at a depth of 1.8 miles, according to the US Geological Survey reported.
The US Geological Report received a shake report from Somerset in Siskiyou County – just over 200 miles away.
The last quake measuring 3.0 in magnitude or above was recorded on June 11, as Lake County News has reported. It measured 3.0 and was centered two miles west of Cobb.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED: 12:06 a.m. Tuesday, June 23
LUCERNE – Authorities are investigating a death and home fire in a Lucerne neighborhood.
Investigators spent most of Monday combing the ruins of a home on the corner of Highland and Second avenues.
It was there early Monday morning that they discovered human remains just inside the front door of the burned trailer home, Sgt. Jim Samples, supervisor of the Lake County Sheriff's Office's Major Crimes Unit, said at the scene Monday afternoon.
Samples characterized the situation's circumstances as “suspicious.”
Officials haven't yet formally identified the remains, but they're believed to be those of the home's resident, Harry Jon Waner.
Waner's wife, 53-year-old Sandra Jean Bronson, was taken into custody on Monday for having violated a domestic violence restraining order, according to Sheriff's Capt. James Bauman.
Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters were dispatched to a reported structure fire at the residence at approximately 4:50 a.m. Monday, Bauman said.
Next-door neighbor Craig Bach said he and his wife awoke to hear their neighbors shouting, and then a man rang the bell at their gate repeatedly. When Bach got out to the gate he saw the glare from the flames.
By the time he got out in the street, he said the trailer was gone. “Trailers just go too quick,” he said.
Battalion Chief Pat Brown said three Northshore Fire engines, an engine from Cal Fire in Clearlake Oaks plus resources from Northshore Fire's Clearlake Oaks station responded to the scene, along with a total of 15 firefighters.
Firefighters arrived to find the single-wide mobile home fully engulfed, said Bauman. Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the area for crowd control.
Bach said the fire appeared to have started in the front of the trailer. Despite the fire being so close to his home, a large oak tree between the two residences acted like a shield, protecting his house.
“Considering the proximity, I'm just incredibly fortunate,” said Bach, who credited the fire district's response for saving the entire block.
Bauman said that, about a half-hour into battling the fire, emergency personnel on scene requested the Lake County Arson Task Force respond to investigate the fire.
Sheriff's detectives also responded to the scene based on information that Waner may have been at the home when the fire broke out and that human remains were believed to be amongst the rubble, Bauman said.
Officials secured a search warrant, Bauman said, which allowed an investigation of the scene to move forward.
Bauman said Arson Task Force members from Northshore Fire, Cal Fire, Lake County Fire, the sheriff’s office and an arson dog team from the Woodland Fire Department investigated the scene throughout the day.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff also was on scene as the investigation at the residence continued Monday afternoon.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office Mobile Emergency Operations Center was set up across the street on Highland Avenue, between Second and Third Avenues. The area was cordoned off by yellow crime scene tape, as was a portion of Second.
Neighbors gathered to watch as investigators – wearing white boots and blue gloves – combed the scene, taking pictures and looking through burned debris that surrounded the trailer's burned-out structure.
It was about three hours into the investigation that sheriff’s detectives learned that Bronson had been at the home the previous night in violation of a domestic violence protection order, Bauman said.
Bronson, whose booking sheet lists her occupation as caregiver, was located at another home in the neighborhood at about 9 a.m. Monday, said Bauman.
Following questioning by detectives, Bronson was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of violating the restraining order, Bauman said.
Her bail on Monday was set at an enhanced amount of $250,000, pending further investigation of the fire, according to Bauman.
Bauman said Waner's restraining order against Bronson was effective on June 15, the date it also was served.
Final identification of the remains isn't yet complete, and the determination of the fire's cause also remains under investigation, Bauman said.
Brown, who worked as incident commander along with Northshore Fire Chief Jim Robbins, said firefighters were released from the scene just after 4 p.m. Monday.
However, sheriff's officials remained on scene through the night, guarding the property. Highland Avenue between Second and Third, and well as a portion of Second Avenue, remained cordoned off.
Bach, who has lived on Highland for nearly four years, said Waner has been his neighbor the whole time, renting the trailer that burned Monday.
Waner played the guitar and the men had spent time together playing music, Bach said.
He recalled seeing Waner the last time on Friday, but believed Waner had been around all weekend.
Bach called the relationship between Waner and Bronson “very interesting.”
He said the two, who he estimated had known each other at least a few years, had gotten married several weeks ago.
Bach said he missed the reception and when he saw Waner some time later he apologized for not making it to the event.
He recalled Waner telling him that Bronson had turned into “the bride from hell,” and that she was “crazy.”
In recent weeks Bach said neighbors on the street had reported hearing Bronson threaten to kill Waner.
Bauman said more information on the case will be released as its confirmed by the Arson Task Force and the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
