Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department reported Thursday that officers arrested Jackie Merlean Smith, 20, and Shirley Ann Ellis, 46, both of Clearlake; and Luther James Ellis, 44, and Felicia Nicole Johnson, 28, both of Phoenix.

Hermann reported that officers were dispatched to A-1 Check Cashing on Olympic Drive shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday on the report of a female subject – who turned out to be Smith – attempting to pass a fraudulent payroll check.

Store employees confronted Smith about the check, Hermann said, and she then allegedly claimed she had been forced to cash it by three subjects who were waiting, with a gun, in a nearby vehicle.

When police officers arrived at the scene, the vehicle – with Luther Ellis, Shirley Ellis and Johnson inside – drove out of the parking lot and attempted to drive away down Olympic Drive, Hermann reported.

He said police used a high-risk car stop to halt the vehicle on Olympic Drive near Redwood, where they detained the three suspects, who were unarmed.

Inside the car, officers found a laptop computer and printer, said Hermann, as well as several blank and printed checks. There also were several items of merchandise in the vehicle including MP3 players and cameras still in their original packaging.

Based on the investigation, Hermann said officers couldn't confirm Smith's story and all four subjects were arrested, transported to the Lake County Jail and booked.

All four are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, burglary and forgery, according to Hermann.

The US Marshal's Service also was looking for Luther Ellis and Johnson, who are wanted on similar charges in other states, Hermann said.

On Wednesday Clearlake Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lori Peters issued a merchant alert as part a business watch program the chamber is coordinating with the Clearlake Police Department to warn businesses about the fake check passing.

All of the suspects remain in custody, with Luther Ellis and Johnson being held on no-bail warrants, according to jail records. Shirley Ellis, whose occupation is listed as a homemaker, is being held on $20,000 bail. Smith, who is unemployed, also remains in custody on $20,000 bail.

Hermann asks anyone with additional information about these subjects or crimes to contact Sgt. Brenda Crandall at the Clearlake Police Department, 707-994-8251.

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Chief Deputy James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that on July 30 32-year-old Jason Allard had been stabbed with a knife during an altercation involving several teenaged suspects, as Lake County News reported last weekend.

Bauman said late last week that detectives were still trying to locate18-year-old James Thomas Hubman for questioning.

On Tuesday, Bauman said Hubman had since contacted the sheriff’s office and provided a statement, admitting to his involvement in the fight and to being the one responsible for stabbing Allard.

Hubman told sheriff’s detectives that during the fight Allard dove to the ground to retrieve a cane he had been hitting the others with, which caused Hubman to be afraid Allard would resume using the cane as a weapon, according to Bauman. So Hubman tried to stab him in the thigh with a pocket knife but struck him once in the lower back instead.

Bauman said the case has been closed and submitted to the District Attorney's Office for review and possible complaint against Hubman for felony assault with a deadly weapon.

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On July 8, the sheriff's office had issued a request for information from the community about the identities of several subjects pictured in a surveillance tape taken at Richmond Park Resort.

Officials believed that the men might have been responsible for the beating of a 23-year-old man at Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa in the early morning hours of June 22, as Lake County News has reported.

A statement from Chief Deputy James Bauman on Friday thanked the public for its assistance in the case.

“The public's response to our request for help in identifying the subjects has been overwhelming,” Bauman said in the written statement.

Through the community's numerous responses, all the subjects pictured in the footage were identified, questioned and subsequently cleared of any suspected involvement in the assault, according to Bauman.

Bauman thanked those who assisted with the investigation by responding to Det. Corey Paulich with information. He said no further responses to the surveillance tape are necessary.

Investigation into the assault is continuing, Bauman said.

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The most recent stabbing case occurred Tuesday.

Lt. Mike Hermann said Osvaldo Diaz of Clearlake, who turned 26 on the day the incident took place, allegedly stabbed another 26-year-old man at the victim's brother's home on Lane Avenue at about 3 p.m. that day.

Hermann said an argument took place during which the stabbing is alleged to have occurred.

The Clearlake Police log from that day has Diaz reporting the stabbing to police, saying he had stabbed the victim with a knife with a 4-and-a-half-inch blade because the man was destroying his vehicle.

The victim suffered two small stab wounds to his back and was taken to Redbud Community Hospital for treatment, said Hermann. The wounds aren't life threatening.

Diaz, who jail records say works as a clerk, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in the Lake County Jail on $15,000 bail, with a Friday court date listed.

Hermann said Diaz had a few prior contacts with Clearlake Police but no arrests before Tuesday.

Earlier in the week, on Sunday, Clearlake Police made another arrest for a stabbing, said Hermann.

Marian Geneva Anderson, 46, of Clearlake, was arrested after allegedly assaulting her live-in boyfriend, said Hermann.

Anderson, whose occupation is listed on her booking sheet as an In-Home Supportive Services worker, attacked her 54-year-old boyfriend with a kitchen knife at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, said Hermann.

The victim, said Hermann, sustained a deep laceration to his left lower arm.

Anderson was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, making terrorist threats and domestic violence, with bail set at $40,000, according to her booking sheet.

She has since been released from jail, with records indicating she is to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Sept. 26.

Hermann said she had numerous prior contacts with police, with her last arrest taking place in 2003 for misdemeanor charges.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The movie will be shown beginning at 12:05 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1 in the board chambers at the courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St.

Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness.

Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.

But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life.

With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, “The End of Suburbia” explores the American way of life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply.

World oil peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary.

The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does oil peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia?

Bring your brown-bag lunch and join Supervisor Denise Rushing for viewing and discussion of this interesting movie. All are welcome to attend.

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Rob Brown looks over a pile of illegal marijuana pulled out of a remote part of his property on Wednesday. Brown discovered the marijuana the week before and reported it to officials. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

Mitchell added that Brown and his family were the victims of several criminal acts by criminal profiteers.

On Wednesday, sheriff's officials and members of the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Program – or CAMP – eradicated just under 5,000 plants from an area Brown estimated to cover 100 acres of his 300 -acre property along Bottle Rock Road, as Lake County News has reported.

The plants were located under brush and tree canopies on the rugged property.

Brown said the plants were discovered July 8 by Steve Prather, a friend of his who also is a retired heavy equipment operator with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Prather said Wednesday that he was on his Caterpillar clearing out brush from the area, which Brown wanted to seed for grazing land for his cattle and buffalo, when he ran into chicken wire and then spotted the marijuana plants under a thick brush cover.

That's when a Hispanic male came out of the brush, angrily waving him off. Prather said he had been of a mind to get down off the Caterpillar and grab the man, but he thought better of it after he realized the man was talking on a cell phone.

Concerned that the might be calling in reinforcement, Prather said he turned the Caterpillar around and, ducking low over his controls, left the area, concerned that a bullet might come through his window.

Shortly afterward, Prather called to tell Brown what he found. Brown said he subsequently called the sheriff's office and reported the garden. A flyover of the property in the following days showed how extensive it was.

Ryan Pontecorvo of the Department of Justice said Wednesday that, based on the evidence found at the scene, which resembled other such grow sites, they believed the growers had been part of one of the Mexican drug rings that are increasingly showing up around California.

The site was scattered with large amounts of garbage and portable propane tanks, besides miles of dripline and chicken wire, which could be seen from a flyover.

Still, that hasn't put an end to speculation or accusations by community members that Brown himself actually was responsible for planting the illegal marijuana. That's despite the fact that officials have not found evidence linking Brown to the activity, and no one has yet come forward claiming to have direct knowledge that would back up such allegations.

Brown won his third term on the Board of Supervisors last month.

Mitchell said Friday that he's received reports from both his own staff and from Brown that Brown is being attacked and accused of illegal activity, both openly and through suggestive innuendo.

“In either case, it is utter nonsense,” Mitchell said.

“Rob Brown and his family are the legitimate victims of a variety of trespass offenses committed by criminal profiteers,” Mitchell said. “This type of offense is happening on public lands and private lands all over California. It is an enormous problem that has significant safety implications.”

Pontecorvo said the growers of such gardens can be extremely dangerous.

Last week, firefighters working on the Soda Complex on the Mendocino National Forest were threatened by two armed men guarding a small, illicit marijuana grow, as Lake County News has reported.

Also last week, the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office raided an illicit pot grow with 20,000 plants in the Saratoga hills, which the San Jose Mercury News reported was located in an area of remote canyons and thick brush above multimillion-dollar homes. An armed suspect believed to have been a pot grower was shot and killed after confronting authorities.

The number of armed confrontations between suspects and law enforcement like the one in Santa Clara County also is increasing, said John George, special agent in charge of the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's San Francisco regional office.

George's region covers nine counties, including Lake, which in recent years has led the state in the amount of illicit marijuana eradicated.

He told Lake County News that law enforcement is seeing an increase across California in the amount of illegal marijuana grows discovered on both public and private lands. “They don' know what's public land and what isn't,” he said.

Of all illicit drugs seized in California, marijuana is the leader, according to Department of Justice statistics.

The main individuals responsible, George said, are with Mexican drug trafficking operations, who find California a more hospitable place than their native country. In Mexico, press reports have documented bloody confrontations between the government and the drug traffickers.

Many times, the growers aren't caught, said George, because they are in areas where they can see and hear the approach of others, which gives them a chance to escape.

Such appeared to be the case on Brown's land. While a sheriff's SWAT team went in early Wednesday morning, no suspects were found.

However, Pontecorvo said they found shotgun shells. George said it is becoming increasingly common to find either weapons or ammunition at camps in grow sites.

Also found at the camp on Brown's property was a lit candle, Pontecorvo said. The candle, according to George, is an offering to Jesus Malverde, a folk hero who is considered the patron saint of drug traffickers and dealers, although he's not recognized by the Catholic Church.

George said the growers often will pack the marijuana out of rugged areas on their own backs, taking it to areas where vehicles have been dropped off to transport it.

Pontecorvo said it's also not uncommon for the growers to be murdered after the harvest, so the drug traffickers don't have to pay them.

Regarding the garden found on Brown's land, Mitchell said, “We should all be grateful for the fact that no innocent persons were injured by the criminals who planted the marijuana illegally on that property.”

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

An aerial view of one of the areas where the marijuana was found. The area has a large amount of dense brush which masked the presence of the marijuana. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

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