LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department celebrated on Friday the graduation from the police academy of its two officer trainees.

Dale Hoskins and Andrew Welter graduated from the Santa Rosa Junior College Police Academy in Windsor in a Friday morning ceremony and took their oath of office from Chief Brad Rasmussen.

Late last year, in an attempt to solve his department's short staffing and retain officers, Rasmussen introduced a new officer trainee program.

In December, the city of Lakeport began a recruitment seeking local residents interested in joining the police department who hadn't attended the police academy.

The city would pay for their academy education and have a job waiting for them when they graduated, with the goal being that the new officers would commit to staying on and working in the community long-term.

The response to the recruitment was strong, said Rasmussen, with the city receiving dozens of applications and numerous promising candidates.

The two standouts were Hoskins and Welter.

Hoskins previously held posts at the county of Lake, including working as a juvenile probation officer and for Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Welter had been a part-time paid call firefighter for South Lake County Fire Protection District, and also had worked for the Hidden Valley Lake Association's security division and the Santa Rosa Junior College Police Department in one of its police training intern programs.

Rasmussen hired the two young men, who he introduced to the Lakeport City Council in March. They started with the police department on March 28, going through an orientation ahead of starting the academy on April 2.

Traveling to the graduation on Friday were several Lakeport Police officers, headed by Rasmussen and Lt. Jason Ferguson, along with Lakeport Mayor Marc Spillman.

“It was tough but exciting,” Hoskins said of his academy experience after the graduation.

On Friday, Rasmussen swore both of the new officers in, with Hoskins' wife Danielle and Welter's girlfriend, Mikala Angelic, pinning their brand new badges onto their uniforms.

“I want you to remember that these badges don't belong to you, they don't belong to me, they don't belong to the department or the city. They belong to the people that we serve,” said Rasmussen, adding that the badges are on loan to the two new officers to be worn to them as long as they uphold the Constitution and code of ethics.

After the ceremony, Welter added another celebratory moment to the day when he proposed to Angelic. She accepted.

Welter has a twin brother who also graduated from the academy on Friday, and who is reportedly being considered for a deputy position with the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

The video above is a shortened presentation of highlights; the video below is the full graduation ceremony.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Lakeport, Calif -- Friday morning at about 12:30 AM, Lakeport Police Officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Seventeenth Street in the city of Lakeport to investigate the report of a residential burglary where a 43 year old female victim woke up to find a male subject on her bed kneeling over her.  

The victim yelled at the male to get out of her house and he began telling her not to scream.  

The victim continued to scream as loud as she could and the male subject fled the residence.  

Police officers arrived and canvassed the scene but did not locate the suspect.  Further investigation revealed that the suspect entered the residence by going through a window.  

A Detective was called out to process the scene for evidence and recovered items that may assist in identifying the suspect.  Additionally the department sketch artist, Acting Sergeant Joe Eastham, was called out to work with the victim and put together a sketch of the suspect based on the victim's description.  

The sketch is attached but only includes facial detail based on information the victim was able to provide.  The subject is described as being approximately 18 years old, with a slender to average build, tall and having shaggy dirty blonde hair.

We are asking that anyone with information on this case please contact us by calling 707-263-5491 and asking to talk with an officer, by sending us a private message on Facebook on our page @LakeportPolice or by sending us an anonymous message through Nixle on your cellular telephone by texting the words TIP LAKEPORT followed by your message to 888777.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Clayton fire began making a run on Sunday afternoon, jumping roads and containment lines, necessitating more evacuations and leading to a local emergency declaration.

Just before 2:30 p.m. the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that, due to the extensive fire activity in the Lower Lake area, Sheriff Brian Martin – who also serves as the county's emergency services director of Lake County – declared a local public emergency due to the disastrous conditions.

Highway 53 was closed to all incoming traffic shortly before 3 p.m. The only traffic allowed on Highway 53 is for those who are evacuating.

Shortly afterward, authorities ordered evacuations in the city of Clearlake in the area commonly known as the Chapman Tract in the Avenues area, from east of Highway 53/Dam Road to Davis Avenue. Residents were ordered to leave the area immediately due to the fire's approach.

At 3:30 p.m., the Clearlake Police Department ordered all residents along Dam Road all the way through the Avenues to evacuate immediately.

Earlier in the afternoon, the sheriff's office had issued another mandatory evacuation order for the Copsey Creek subdivision, Bonham Road and Quarterhorse Road.

Radio reports indicated that the fire, estimated to be about 1,400 acres and burning since Saturday evening, had jumped Morgan Valley Road and containment lines, with firefighters working to protect structures in that area as the fire continued to outflank them.

Additional air resources were ordered to respond to the area to help protect the community of Clearlake.

Fire engines also were being directed into downtown Lower Lake to protect resources there.

At around 3 p.m. ambulances from around the county were being requested to respond to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake to assist with moving more than a dozen patients as the hospital prepared to evacuate, according to radio reports.

The sheriff's office said evacuation centers are open at the Highlands Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake, and at Twin Pine Casino & Hotel, 22223 Highway 29 in Middletown.

The situation is developing very rapidly. Updates will be posted as they become available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police have arrested two Clearlake residents for a Saturday afternoon burglary.

Michael Steven Adkins, 43, and Lorie Sheree Duvall, 25, were taken into custody in connection to the break-in, according to Sgt. Travis Lenz of the Clearlake Police Department.

Just after 1:30 p.m. Saturday Clearlake Police Officers were dispatched to the 13000 block of Carter Lane for a reported burglary in progress, Lenz said.

Lenz said the reporting party had live video surveillance footage of subjects inside his residence, which he was actively watching at the time of the report.

Sgt. Rodd Joseph and Officer Stephanie Green arrived on scene and established a perimeter around the residence. Officer Mark Harden arrived on scene and cleared the residence with his canine partner “Zip,” yet no one was located inside.

It later was determined that the live video footage of the subjects inside the residence had an estimated 10-minute delay, and the subject had actually left the residence 10 minutes prior to officers' arrival, Lenz said.

Officer Jared Nixon conducted the residential burglary investigation, identifying items of property which had been stolen, Lenz said.

The reporting party emailed still shot photographs of the subjects to the Clearlake Police Department Dispatch Unit, which were provided to Sgt. Joseph.

During the investigation, Officer Harden obtained information which identified one of the individuals involved as Adkins. Lenz said Sgt. Joseph researched Adkins’ associated persons in the Records Information Management System and was able to identify the second individual as Duvall.

After identifying both individuals, Lenz said officers began searching numerous associated residences in Clearlake in an attempt to locate and arrest Adkins and Duvall.

Lenz said Officer Nixon located Adkins and Duvall at a residence in the 3700 block of 10th Street. All of the property stolen during the burglary was located at the suspects' residence and recovered. In addition to the stolen property, both suspects were also found to be in possession of illegal fireworks.

During interviews, both Adkins and Duvall admitted to the burglary, Lenz said.

Duvall and Adkins were placed under arrest and booked into the Lake County Jail on charges of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit crime and possession of illegal fireworks, according to Lenz.

Jail records indicated that bail was set at $50,000 each.

Anyone with information in regard to this investigation is asked to contact Officer Nixon at the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251, Extension 543.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday Lake County's sheriff introduced three new deputies and administered their oath of office.

The swearing-in ceremony for Matt McCabe, Antonio Castellanos and Jose Martinez took place at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

“This is one of my favorite things to do as a sheriff,” said Martin of the opportunity to introduce the men to the community.

He said the three new deputies represent the result of an action the board took to create the deputy sheriff trainee classification.

That program allows current county employees to go through the six-month police academy at College of the Redwoods, paid for by the county, in order to become deputies, he said.

Martin said the sheriff's office has four people who have gone through that program.

In exchange, those deputies agree to stay and work for at least three years. Martin said he believes he can keep this group here longer.

McCabe and Castellanos were raised in Lake County, and had been in local law enforcement explorer programs – McCabe with the sheriff's office, Castellanos with the California Highway Patrol. Martinez moved to Lake County from the Los Angeles area, Martin said.

“They knew at an early age that they wanted to become involved in law enforcement, and they're living out their ambitions and their dreams,” Martin said.

Martin said McCabe was the top performer in his academy class, and was named the distinguished honor graduate.

Martin thanked the new deputies' families and friends for their support, noting that it's impossible to succeed in the academy without it.

“We're going to make a promise to you that we will take care of them, we'll provide them training, we'll give them opportunities and we'll provide them a challenging work environment,” Martin said.

He asked that the new deputies' friends and family remain supportive in the times ahead, as they work graveyards and holidays, and miss important events.

After Martin administered their oath, Board Chair Rob Brown noted the efforts made by fellow county employees – in the midst of short staffing – to cover extra work while the men went to the academy.

That extra effort “definitely doesn't go unnoticed by us,” Brown said.

Supervisor Jim Steele encouraged the new deputies to get involved with the Neighborhood Watch groups that have been forming around the county.

He said some deputies already have been connecting with the community through those programs, and it's having a positive impact.

“It's really good to see that kind of interaction,” and the community loves to see the deputies there, Steele said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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