From left, Isaiah Rodgers, Ajai Rodgers and Leandro Guerrero were arrested in Lakeport, Calif., on Friday, October 7, 2011, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman. Lake County Jail photos.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Three Lakeport men were arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

Isaiah Reyhan Rodgers, 26; Ajai Raheam Rodgers, 22; and Leandro Ridgel Guerrero, 21, were booked into the Lake County Jail on felony charges of attempted rape, sexual battery, assault to commit rape and rape in concert with force or violence, according to a report from Sgt. Kevin Odom.

At 7 a.m. Friday a 24 year old female victim flagged down a Lake County Deputy Sheriff in the 1000 block of Armstrong Street and reported she was sexually assaulted, Odom said.

Odom reported that the woman told the deputy that the suspects were driving away in a vehicle, which she pointed out to the deputy.

The deputy conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and detained the occupants while officers from the Lakeport Police Department contacted the victim, Odom said.

The investigation revealed the victim was at her residence in the 1000 block of Armstrong Street during the early morning hours socializing with the suspects, according to Odom. She told police she was acquainted with the suspects and had met them the past evening at a local bar.

Odom said she reported the suspects made sexual advances towards her. When she told them to stop, she reported she was held down by the three suspects and was sexually assaulted by at least one of

them.

An “infield show up” – an identification procedure in which an alleged victim is allowed to identify suspects in the field – was performed at the vehicle stopped by the deputy, and the three were arrested, Odom said.

The vehicle's fourth occupant was subsequently interviewed at the police department and released, according to Odom.

Odom said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Lakeport Police Department, 707-263-5491.

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Sheriff Mack is a dynamic speaker who gave his audience a riveting presentation with an emotional and factual interpretation regarding his beliefs of what peace officers should consider their oath of office means to them.

Along with citing the constitution, quoting sections of an individual's rights and what our forefathers considered federal versus states' rights, Mack went on to emphasize the importance of being prepared for emergency and/or disaster relief.

He suggested that citizens should have provisions to sustain themselves for a month or longer.

Mack believes a person’s right to defend themselves and their civil rights were violated by the Brady Handgun Bill. He fought that violation by taking his case to the Supreme Court and won.

He mentioned Judge John Roll – who recently died in the Tucson incident that injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford – as a key player in seeing that the case moved forward.

He cited Rosa Parks' effort to stand up for her rights as an individual and citizen of the United States.

The group was pleased to have Sheriff Mack visit Lake County and share his views.

The Court Facilities Working Group, which provides oversight of California's entire judicial branch facilities program, will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 19, and Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Malcolm M. Lucas Boardroom on the third floor of the Hiram W. Johnson State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.

The Administrative Office of the Courts reported that the working group will discuss the future direction of the courthouse construction program and consider options for moving forward with the 41 courthouse projects planned with funding from Senate Bill 1407.

SB 1407 establishes a revenue stream – which includes court fines and penalties – to support courthouse construction.

However, the state “borrowed” around $310 million from the fund during approval of the new state budget, which has given rise to concerns about funding for the new courthouses.

Last month, when the state announced that it was moving forward with new plans for Lakeport's new courthouse – a 50,000-square-foot, $55 million facility set to be built at 675 Lakeport Blvd. – it indicated that it still wasn't clear how the issues with SB 1407 could affect the project.

“We recognize that significant funding reductions to the judicial branch will likely impact the branch’s courthouse construction program,” Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, who chairs the working group, said in a written statement.

Hill said the working group must act quickly to make recommendations to the Judicial Council.

“It’s an enormous job, and we need to gather as much input as possible in a short amount of time,” he said. “These projects have a significant impact not only in the 34 counties in which they would be located but statewide. We believe the public should have a voice on their future direction, whether they support or oppose a particular project or have other comments they wish the working group to hear.”

The working group has been directed to provide recommendations to the Judicial Council on the facilities projects as soon as possible after the October meeting, with the intent that the council could consider those recommendations by the end of the calendar year, the state reported.

Administrative Office of the Courts spokesperson Teresa Ruano said it's not yet clear if the working group will make a final decision about where the funding will go at the meeting.

She said the meeting later this month will be geared more toward receiving public comment.

“The courts actually had an opportunity to submit comments in writing ahead of the public,” Ruano said.

Ruano said that all 34 courts slated to get projects – including the Lake County Superior Court – submitted comments for the working group's consideration.

“The time that we have at the meeting we expect to give to members of the public,” said Ruano.

She said people are invited to come to the meeting or submit comments in writing ahead of time.

Lakeport Community Development/Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll, who along with other city officials has worked to keep the new courthouse in Lakeport, said Tuesday he anticipated the city would weigh in on the discussion.

The working group is opening up public comment on any aspect of the judicial branch facilities program.

Written comments are preferred. Comments may be e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mailed or delivered to Administrative Office of the Courts, Attn: Comments to Court Facilities Working Group, 455 Golden Gate Ave., 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Comments received by 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, will be distributed to working group members at the meeting. The same e-mail address and postal address will remain open to the public at any time to comment on the facilities program or the work of the working group.

In-person comments can be made during the first hour of the working group’s meeting in San Francisco on Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 11a.m., which will be reserved for public comment.

Speakers will be limited to three to five minutes, depending on the volume of requests, and scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.

To reserve time to speak, send your request by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mail or deliver your request to Administrative Office of the Courts, at the address above.

As part of the request, include: the speaker’s name, occupation, and (if applicable) name of the entity that the speaker represents; the speaker’s email address, telephone number and mailing address; and the courthouse project to be commented on, or the nature of the speaker’s interest in the SB 1407 program.

Those wishing to comment may also sign up at the beginning of the meeting, but time for public comment will be limited and allocated based on the number of requests to speak. After the comment period ends, the meeting will be closed to the public.

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John Phillip Hackamack, 55, of Clearlake was arrested just after 3 a.m. by Clearlake Police Officer Elvis Cook, according to Lake County Jail Records.

Clearlake Police Sgt. Tim Hobbs said officers responded to the area of Old Highway 53 and Cass Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday on a report of possible gunshots associated with a white Dodge pickup truck.

Hobbs said the police officer were unable to locate the vehicle upon their arrival in the area.

Then, at 2 a.m., Cook and Officer Dominic Ramirez were on patrol when then observed a white dodge pickup truck driving south on Old Highway 53 near Ballpark Avenue, Hobbs said.

He said the officers noticed the vehicle had two different mechanical violations and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

When they contacted the driver, Hackamack, Cook and Ramirez noticed two rifles sitting on the front passenger seat partially covered by clothing, Hobbs said.

During further inspection it was discovered one rifle was a loaded .22 caliber semi automatic rifle with a silencer on the firearm, Hobbs said. The other firearm was a loaded .270 caliber bolt action rifle.

Hobbs said there were two additional silencers located in the vehicle, one of which fit on the .270 caliber rifle.

Cook arrested Hackamack for possession of a silencer and possession of a loaded firearm in a public place, Hobbs said.

Hackamack's Lake County Jail booking sheet showed that bail was set at $10,000. He later posted bail and was released.

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Oakland attorney Michael Clough filed the Pitchess motion for the personnel records of Sheriff Frank Rivero and Sgt. John Gregore, lead investigator in the case, on Sept. 12.

Clough represents 33-year-old Nicolas Carrillo of Santa Rosa, arrested in August for a June 4 fight at Konocti Vista Casino outside of Lakeport.

The Sept. 12 filing leaves open the possibility of other sheriff's staffers being added to the list of individuals whose records Clough wants to access.

“It's possible that we will file additional Pitchess motions as we get additional discovery,” said Clough. “We anticipate that there's going to be a substantial amount of discovery and motions in the case.”

Clough's Pitchess motion is scheduled to be heard on Oct. 17 in Lake County Superior Court.

County Counsel Anita Grant, whose office represents the sheriff's office in the matter, said the county will fight the attempt to delve into the men's records.

Carrillo – along with fellow Sonoma County residents Timothy Bianchi, Joshua Johnson and David Dabbs – is alleged to be Hells Angels members who participated in the beating of a member of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang, according to the original sheriff's report in the case.

In the wake of his arrest for the Lake County case, Josh Johnson was just recently arrested by the FBI, according to Peter Lee of the FBI's San Francisco office. However, Lee could not offer Lake County News further information about the arrest.

The District Attorney's Office previously reported that charges against Carrillo include felony participation in a criminal street gang, misdemeanor fighting in public, misdemeanor battery and several special allegations relating to the infliction of great bodily injury and the participation in a criminal street gang.

Clough wants information about any complaints filed against Rivero alleging violations of civil and constitutional rights, selective enforcement or prosecution and bias against the Hells Angels, as well as any evidence of “providing or authorizing subordinate officers to release false and/or misleading information about pending investigations to the media” as well as “use of office to conduct politically motivated investigations.”

He's seeking similar information for Gregore, as well as evidence of mishandling or failing to disclose evidence, submitting unreasonable requests for excessive bail, preparation of false or incomplete reports, and false or perjured testimony.

Other information of interest to Clough is anything that would support allegations that the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office and the FBI selectively targeted members of the Sonoma County Hells Angels chapter for investigation and prosecution, and if there was a conspiracy to violate the chapter members' civil rights.

The goal is to find information favorable to Carrillo's defense that would impeach the testimony of prosecution witnesses at trial, according to the document.

Pitchess motions are based on a 1974 California Supreme Court case, Pitchess v. Superior Court, and have since been included in the California Evidence Code.

A Pitchess motion is based on the theory that a defendant in a criminal case should have any information that could help their defense, including information about potential misconduct in an arresting officer's personnel files.

The right of a defendant to have that information is balanced against a peace officer's rights to maintain the privacy of his or her personnel file. California law has firm protections to guard peace officers in such cases.

Grant, whose office has received the motion, said they will respond as the county always does in such cases.

The county always and “without exception” responds to Pitchess motions, Grant said, due to concerns that are described in case law as “fishing expeditions.”

The legal definition of a “fishing expedition” describes open-ended attempts to get information, and overly broad, unfocused questioning that is not within the case's scope.

The county has fought previous attempts to open peace officer records, including one lodged in 2009 during the trial of Bismarck Dinius, who was acquitted in a fatal boating crash.

Dinius was steering a sailboat hit in 2006 by a motorboat driven by an off-duty sheriff's deputy, Russell Perdock. Dinius' attorney sought Perdock's records through a Pitchess motion, which both county counsel and Perdock's attorney successfully fought.

Carrillo's case is continuing to move forward, with a preliminary hearing still to take place.

Bail in Carrillo's case was set at $500,000, which Clough had argued in court filings was excessive. He asked to have it reduced to $75,000.

Clough said in his motion that Carrillo has never been charged with a violent criminal offense before this case, and his only conviction on record is for driving on a suspended license.

Clough argued that it appeared that Carrillo's Hells Angels membership led to the high bail, and if that's the case it violates Carrillo's constitutional right to freedom of expression and equal protection.

The filings in the case also reference a May 14 event during which the Vagos visited Lakeport. That same day, county law enforcement received information from an FBI agent claiming that a group of Hells Angels members were en route to the county to confront the Vagos.

Rivero sent a group of deputies to the Middletown area in case the Hells Angels appeared. It's alleged that he was planning to turn the Hells Angels back if they arrived, which Rivero has denied, stating instead in an investigative report that he planned to put in place a roadblock in order to engage in contact with the bikers.

Possible civil rights violations in the case remain under investigation by the Lake County District Attorney's Office.

Rivero has continued to voice concern over the rival gangs and their activities, sending an e-mail to local media and county leaders over the weekend referencing a news story about a fight and shootout between the two groups that claimed the life of a California Hells Angels leader in a casino in Sparks Nev., on Sept. 23.

A subsequent e-mail from Rivero informed county leaders that there is a statewide law enforcement alert from the US Marshals Service on possible retaliatory actions because of the gang shooting.

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Aaron Bassler, 35, of Fort Bragg, Calif., is seen here in a surveillance video early in September 2011 while he was allegedly burglarizing a vacation cabin in a remote part of Mendocino County, Calif. Bassler is wanted in connection with with the August 2011 murders of North Coast residents Matthew Coleman and Jere Melo. Photo courtesy Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – After 31 days of searching for a suspect in two August homicides, Mendocino County's sheriff said that he's not planning on giving up until the search comes to a safe and successful conclusion.

Sheriff Tom Allman held a Monday press conference in Fort Bragg to update the community on the search for 35-year-old Aaron James Bassler, who has been on the run since shooting to death Fort Bragg Councilman Jere Melo, 69, on timberland six miles east of Fort Bragg on Aug. 27.

Bassler, who reportedly has a history of mental health issues, is the lead suspect not just in Melo's fatal shooting but in the Aug. 11 murder of 44-year-old Matthew Coleman, a Mendocino Land Trust land manager shot and killed in a remote forest area near Westport, according to sheriff's officials.

The search, said Allman, so far has yielded a lot of evidence and information. Thanks to the assistance of the California Department of Justice, Allman said his agency had DNA evidence that confirmed Bassler was at the scene of Coleman's murder.

The search for Bassler is the largest in the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office's history, Allman said.

It's continuing on land and by air, the latter as conditions allow, the sheriff said, with no plan to stop until Bassler – who Allman called “a very dangerous man with the ability to do further homicides” – is apprehended.

Allman emphasized that his main goal was that Bassler be brought into custody safely.

“We want this to end without a gunshot,” Allman said. “We want this to end peacefully.”

Allman said the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, the United States Marshals Service and members of a number of agencies from around the North Coast and the state – including the Lake County Sheriff's Office – have been working on the case around the clock for the last 31 days, in an operation that so far is estimated to have cost Mendocino County more than $200,000.

While Bassler isn't yet in custody, Allman said he believes they're getting closer.

“We have every reason to believe he's still in the original area” where Melo's homicide occurred, said Allman.

But that area is vast – Allman said it's a 400-square-mile area of Mendocino County forest that Bassler has explored for the last 30 years, since he was a small child, and where family and friends have told authorities he's been known to survive for months at a time.

A $30,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Bassler's arrest, but Allman emphasized that they are not looking for public participation in the search, just solid leads.

On Monday Allman released a picture taken of Bassler within the last two weeks as he allegedly burglarized a remote vacation cabin.

The black-and-white picture – captured with one of about 40 cameras set up around the search area – showed Bassler carrying a large caliber assault rifle, and wearing a jacket similar to one he was seen wearing by a Humboldt County deputy two weeks ago. Allman said they believe Bassler also is carrying a sidearm.

There have been numerous burglaries in the area of Melo's homicide – both before and after the shooting for which authorities believe Bassler is responsible – Allman said. In one of these burglaries, a shotgun and .22 rifle were taken.

During the press conference Allman also revealed that the search has turned up cache sites – believed to have belonged to Bassler – where ammunition was found.

Allman said his office is working with the families of Coleman and Melo to keep them updated on the situation as it unfolds. “The victims' families are very important to the sheriff's office,” he said.

He emphasized the need for anyone in the area to be aware of their surroundings, adding, “We do not believe that Bassler is hunting any individuals,” but rather appears to want to be left alone.

Both Coleman and Melo were shot while walking into areas where Bassler already was present, Allman said.

Allman said Bassler does not appear to have any cell phone or two-way radio in his possession.

Bassler was last seen about two weeks ago when a Mendocino County Sheriff's dog made brief contact with him, according to statements on Monday.

Since the dog incident, Allman said they've increased the presence of dogs in the search, with Riverside County Sheriff's Office and Murrieta Police Department bringing in their bloodhounds.

Dogs are an important component of the search, with the dense brush and trees and low visibility a challenge to infrared technology. In such cases, Allman said the best tool is a dog.

“The bloodhounds are continuing to give us what we think is the best source of information,” Allman said.

Allman said some citizens have reported possible sightings of Bassler since he was last seen two weeks ago, and sheriff's office staff and SWAT team members are responding to such reports. There also have been reports that Bassler may be dressing as a female.

Although the rainy season is right around the corner – it's normal for the rains to arrive in mid-October – Allman said he doesn't see the weather ending the search.

“I do not see an end in sight in the search for Bassler until we get to a resolution,” he said.

Allman said an area lodging association has donated dozens of rooms for members of the search, restaurants are donating meals and timber companies were putting on a barbecue for the search teams on Monday night. He added that Harvest Market has donated thousands of dollars in food.

“Fort Bragg has come together in ways we never would have expected,” Allman said.

He said he has reason to believe the search is getting closer to ending in Bassler's arrest. “When it happens, it's going to happen quick.”

When there is a resolution, Allman guaranteed that the information will go out “as fast as possible so people can breathe a little bit easier that our county is going to be safe.”

In addition to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and US Marshals Service, agencies listed as taking part in the search included the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, Fort Bragg Police Department, Willits Police Department, Ukiah Police Department, Cal Fire, Lake and Humboldt County Sheriff's offices, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, state and federal Departments of Justice, the Civil Air Patrol, several local fire departments, California Department of Fish and Game and the National Guard.

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Aaron Bassler Wanted Posted 2011