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LAKE COUNTY – A Graton man has been sentenced to state prison for his part in a home invasion last fall.
On Tuesday, Malcolm Safa Brown, 41, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by Judge Arthur Mann, according to the Lake County District Attorney's Office.
On April 20 Brown had pleaded guilty to charges of first degree burglary, assault with a firearm as an aider and abettor, and also admitted to enhancements for suffering a prior “strike” conviction and a prior prison term, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who prosecuted the case. The prior “strike” conviction was for a first degree burglary conviction in 1998.
Last Nov. 13, Brown and transient Charles William Burk, 31, were alleged to have broken into a home on Noble Ranch Road in Hidden Valley Lake before leading local authorities on a day-long search in the gated community, as Lake County News has reported.
Brown and Burk – who were using methamphetamine at the time – went to the home of Burk's aunt, uncle and cousin, allegedly to commit a home invasion theft, according to investigative reports.
The men entered the house while the family was sleeping, the reports noted. Brown is alleged to have begun hitting a 22-year-old Donald Merrill Jr. in the head with a wooden stool while Burk grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and tried to shoot his 52-year-old uncle, Donald Merrill Sr.
After they were overpowered by the victims, Brown and Burk fled the scene in a white pickup truck. Burk, who was driving, is alleged to have intentionally rammed a sheriff’s patrol vehicle being driven by Deputy Brian Smith as they attempted to make their getaway, Hinchcliff said.
The men then drove through a private gate, crashed into a tree, and split up in an effort to evade officers. Burk is believed to have attempted to break into a nearby home after the crash, but the homeowner was able to prevent him from getting in the door.
The ensuing 11-hour search – which included several agencies – involved authorities using ground patrol and a Sonoma County Sheriff's Office helicopter to look for the men in the Hidden Valley Lake subdivision.
Burk was later found hiding under the exterior deck of a Stonegate Road home. Before his capture he had broken into a home on Raven Hill Road, stole clothes and shaved his head in an effort to change his appearance.
Brown was arrested a short time later in a field near Highway 29 and Arabian Lane, according to the original sheriff's report.
Mann ordered Brown, who was represented by defense attorney William Conwell, to pay a $3,200 restitution fine. Because of the “strike,” Hinchcliff said Brown will have to serve at least 80 percent of the 16-year sentence, rather than the usual 50 percent.
Hinchcliff said Brown will be transported to San Quentin Prison for processing to determine where he will serve out the remainder of his prison sentence.
Charges are still pending against Burk in the case, Hinchcliff said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Shortly before 2 p.m. Eric Von Reneger parked his 1970s Dodge pickup on Logan Drive at Foothill Drive.
Von Reneger said he turned the vehicle off and got out. He said he thinks the truck popped out of first gear and then rolled across a nearby property, damaging a retaining wall and crossing a neighbor's driveway.
It then went down the adjacent hillside, rolling over onto its side and coming to a stop against another retaining wall, which prevented the pickup from hitting a nearby home.
Northshore Fire, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol responded. No injuries were reported, and Von Reneger's pickup was pulled up the hill and towed from the scene.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE – A weekend concert at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa was canceled after an equipment problem caused safety concerns.
The Memorial Day weekend “Can't Stop Rockin'” show – featuring REO Speedwagon, Styx and 38 Special – didn't really get a chance to start rocking Saturday, when overhead lighting equipment began to collapse in the resort's 5,000-seat outdoor Konocti Field Amphitheater.
Konocti Harbor President and General Manager Greg Bennett did not return calls from Lake County News seeking comment.
Eyewitnesses related to Lake County News that they saw a piece of equipment falling off of the lighting structure above the stage, and then the musicians were rushed off.
Lower Lake resident Dianna Brooks, who was at the resort with her husband for the concert, arrived after the equipment issue occurred.
She said they waited two hours – until around 8 p.m. – before the announcement was made that the concert was canceled.
Brooks said security guards had cordoned off a portion of the amphitheater so that no one could sit within about 50 to 75 feet of the stage.
Brooks said gaffers were intermittently going up and down the scaffolding with large rolls of yellow banding to secure the center lighting system so it would not fall down any further.
She said the resort told ticket holders they would receive refunds beginning Tuesday.
The Konocti Harbor Web site, www.konoctiharbor.com, lists the next concert in the outdoor amphitheater on July 4, when 3 Doors Down will give a holiday performance followed by fireworks.
The California Department of Finance's report on state population numbers shows that 409,000 residents came to California in 2008, raising the state's population to 38,293,000 as of Jan. 1 of this year.
Of California's 480 cities, 453 showed populations gains, five experienced no change and 20 lost population, according to the report.
In Lake County, the county as a whole posted a modest population gain in 2008 of 0.3 percent, with population rising from 63,805 to 64,025.
Outside of the incorporated areas of Lakeport and Clearlake, population actually declined by 0.2, dropping from 44,592 to 44,489, according to the report.
Lakeport posted the largest growth numbers in the county, with the number of residents rising from 5,024 to 5,146, for a 2.4 percent increase.
In Clearlake, the percentage population growth was smaller, at 1.4 percent. In 2008 the city's number of residents grew from 14,189 to 14,390.
Other California population facts from the report:
• The city of Los Angeles, California's largest city, has reached a population of 4,065,585. Los Angeles grew by over 43,000 persons during the year.
• San Diego, the state's second-largest city, has a population of 1,353,993 and added over 20,000 persons in 2008.
• The city of San Jose exceeded 1 million in population in 2008, adding 21,585 new residents during the year to reach 1,006,892, making it the 10th city in the United States to exceed 1 million persons.
• The city of Riverside became the 12th California city to exceed 300,000 (it's current population is 300,430).
• Fresno has replaced Long Beach as the state's fifth largest city. Fresno was estimated to have 495,913 residents, while Long Beach came in with a population of 492,682.
• There are now 69 cities in California with a population exceeding 100,000.
• Sand City in Monterey County (population 312) was the state's fastest growing city on a percentage basis, increasing by 4.7 percent. The next four fastest growing cities were Albany in Alameda County (4.5 percent), Calipatria in Imperial County (4.5 percent), Tehachapi in Kern County (4.4 percent), and Woodlake in Tulare County (4.1 percent).
• The biggest numeric increases typically occurred in some of the state's largest cities – Los Angeles (43,135), San Jose (21,585), San Diego (20,376), Fresno (10,578) and San Francisco (10,195).
• Since the April 1, 2000 census, the top four fastest growing California cities all have more than doubled in size, including Lincoln in Placer County (258 percent), Beaumont and Murrieta in Riverside County (185 percent and 127 percent respectively), and Brentwood in Contra Costa County (123 percent).
• Two new incorporations occurred in Riverside County in 2008: Wildomar and Menifee.
• California's housing growth continued a recent trend by declining once again from the previous year. Since peaking in 2005, when the state was estimated to have added 197,707 new housing units, there has been a steady reduction in residential construction. In 2006, the state added 172,604 units; in 2007, there were 131,912 units built, then last year only 86,745 were constructed – the smallest change since 1998.
• The 2008 relocation of California's prison population among various facilities within California, and to other states, resulted in the overall number of incarcerated persons declining for the second year in a row, down by 5,081 to 185,153 inmates statewide. The largest prison declines occurred in Vacaville (-1,033) in Solano County, Avenal (-807) in Kings County, Chino (-571) in San Bernardino County and Blythe (-495) in Riverside County. Tehachapi (+273) in Kern County, Ione (+259) in Amador County, and Victorville (+187) in San Bernardino County gained prison population.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
In the 1920s “The Plaza” was a gathering place for all with outdoor dances, music and other events. In the 1990s “The Plaza” fell into disrepair and a large part of history for Clearlake Oaks was covered with pavement and used as a parking lot.
On Friday, the County of Lake and the Lake County Redevelopment Agency will celebrate the grand opening of the newly resurrected Clearlake Oaks Plaza.
The grand opening event will begin at 1 p.m. with an acoustical guitar performance by Dave Hendrick, special guest speakers including Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, Pastor Ken Young, Margaret Medeiros of the Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association, other dignitaries and a vocal performance by the United Methodist Community Church Choir.
Join the county of Lake and the Lake County Redevelopment Agency on Friday to celebrate The Plaza's grand opening and be a part of the new history of Clearlake Oaks.
LAKEPORT – In Lakeport's Hartley Cemetery there is a special spot reserved for local veterans.
It's known as Veterans Circle.
In 2006, the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team – a devoted band of military brothers and sisters who offer funerary honors for local veterans – created the space.
Originally, its aim was for indigent veterans. While it's since been opened up to all veterans, those without means or family still comprise most of those laid to rest there.
It's also a place of commemoration for all veterans. Flag-raising ceremonies are held there on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and memorial wreaths are laid there in December as part of the annual “Wreaths Across America” commemoration.
Just this past week, two more veterans were honored at the circle.
The Military Funeral Honors Team reported that Chris R. Erickson, a veteran of the U.S. Army, and Kenneth W. J. Evans, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, were laid to rest in Veterans Circle on May 18.
The men's family weren't present, but they did have many friends – many of whom they may never have met.
Those friends included the county's many veterans organizations, the Missing in America Program, Patriot Guard Riders, Operation Tango Mike and the Lake County Veterans Service Office who were present to pay their respects.
The Military Funeral Honors Team provided the eulogy, three volley rifle salute and the playing of “Taps.”
The California State Honor Guard and the Travis Air Force Base Honor guard were on hand to fold the veterans' US flags.
Those flags were then presented to the Avenue of Flags, and will fly over Hartley as part of the annual display on Memorial Day on Monday.
Erickson and Evans join fellow veterans including George Elder, Lawrence Quinn and Robert Kincaid.
Elder, who died May 26, 2008, was buried a month later, on June 24. He served in the US Air Force from 1957 to 1961, and his friend and neighbor, Terre Logsdon, accepted his flag.
Quinn and Kincaid, both Navy vets laid to rest in the circle on Oct. 11, 2008.
Quinn served during the Korean War and died Sept. 11, 2008. The ashes of Kincaid, who died in 2003, were unclaimed for five years before the Missing in America Project assisted with obtaining his cremains for burial, as Lake County News has reported.
Since their burials, the families of Elder and Kincaid discovered the men's whereabouts.
In the case of Kincaid, his son, Texas resident Ron Simpson, who was separated from his father in childhood, credited the Missing in America Project for its efforts on behalf of vets. An Internet search led him to the story, posted last fall, of his father's burial.
Hartley Cemetery is located at 2552 Hill Road, Lakeport.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
