LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two days after police discovered unreported mail thefts in the city, Lakeport Police said they're received a report of two subjects stealing from mail boxes.

Late on Friday morning Lakeport Police officers were dispatched to the 400 block of Hillcrest Drive to investigate the report of two male subjects taking mail from residential mail boxes, the agency said.

The responding officer investigated and determined that an alert resident saw two subjects taking mail from a box, according to police.

The resident yelled at the subjects and they dropped the mail a short distance away and then fled the area. The subjects were not located by the police, the report noted.

The subjects are described as Hispanic or American Indian male juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17, between 5 feet 8 inches tall and 5 feet 10 inches tall, and wearing black and red ball caps and clothing, police said.

Police said the subjects are likely looking for cash, gift or credit cards, checks or other valuable items that may be contained in both incoming and outgoing mail.

On Wednesday, while investigating a report of a stolen purse, police discovered mail stolen from residents in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Hartley Street and the 1400 block of Mellor Drive, as Lake County News has reported.

In that case, items of mail – including Christmas cards – were torn open, police said.

Police have leads as to potential suspects and are following up on in the earlier case, but at this time it is not currently known if the two cases are related.

The Lakeport Police Department urges residents to take precautions with their incoming and outgoing mail.

Police suggested that residents pick up incoming mail as soon as possible and not leave outgoing mail in the box for long periods prior to pick up or drop it off at the post office or a secure box in town.

These investigations are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the Lakeport Police Department at 707-263-5491.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department is investigating a report of a suspicious male subject seen taking photographs or video of students at two city schools on Thursday.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said his agency's officers were dispatched to Terrace Middle School at 1 p.m. Thursday to investigate the incident.

Lakeport Police officers immediately responded but were unable to locate the subject on the school campus, Rasmussen said.

He said officers interviewed school staff members who witnessed the incident and contacted the unidentified subject, who was reported to be verbally abusive.

Witnesses advised that the subject was on a bicycle stopped in the middle of the road between Clear Lake High School and Terrace Middle School. He was using a cellular phone to take photo or video of Clear Lake High School Students, Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said witnesses reported that the subject then moved to the road adjacent to the Terrace Middle School basketball courts and again used the phone to take either video or photos of students.

The subject is described as being a white male adult between 40 and 50 years old, unshaven with a very short crew cut, 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, 190 to 200 pounds, having a deep voice and wearing a white shirt and dark-colored pants, Rasmussen said.

The subject's bicycle is described as being a white full-size mountain bike with a shock absorber on the top frame tube, according to Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said Lakeport Police officers searched the streets and neighborhoods areas around the school and were unable to locate the subject after he was last seen by a witness at the intersection of Lange and Giselman streets near Lakeport Elementary School.

Lakeport Police officers are continuing to investigate this incident and hope to identify and locate the subject, Rasmussen said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lakeport Police at 707-263-5491.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The theft of a purse from a vehicle in Lakeport has led to the discovery of mail thefts in the city.

At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen was contacted at the police department by a woman reporting that her purse had been stolen, according to Lt. Jason Ferguson.

The woman said that at about 6 p.m. Tuesday her purse was stolen from inside her vehicle in the 600 block of 14th Street, Ferguson said.

Ferguson said she reported that she was contacted on Wednesday regarding her purse being located behind Safeway.

Along with the purse were several pieces of incoming and outgoing mail, which appeared to have been taken from mailboxes in the 1400 block of Mellor Drive, and the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Hartley Roads, Ferguson said.

He said the mail was returned to the post office to be given back to the residents at those locations.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the Lakeport Police Department at 707-263-5491.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department is working to locate people who witnessed a Saturday morning incident in which a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle.

Clearlake resident Brian Fitzke, 33, was seriously injured after being hit by a minivan driven by 80-year-old Kelseyville resident Maureen Lostetter, according to Sgt. Tim Hobbs.

Hobbs said that at approximately 11:15 a.m. Saturday Clearlake Police officers responded to Lakeshore Drive in front of the Magic Wok Chinese restaurant for a reported vehicle versus pedestrian collision.

When officers arrived, medical personnel from the Lake County Fire Protection District were beginning to treat Fitzke, Hobbs said.

Based on information gathered during the investigation, Hobbs said Lostetter was driving her 1993 Ford Aerostar west on Lakeshore Drive.

Eastbound traffic was stopped for a pedestrian who was walking south across the road and was at that point in the eastbound lane, Hobbs said.

Hobbs said Fitzke was walking behind the other pedestrian. As Fitzke was about halfway across the westbound lane, Lostetter attempted to stop while swerving to the center of the road. She was unable to stop or avoid Fitzke and the front of her vehicle struck him.

Fitzke sustained major injuries as a result of the collision. Lostetter was uninjured and her vehicle sustained moderate damage, according to Hobbs.

Hobbs said Fitzke was transported by Lake County Fire Protection District personnel to a landing zone at Redbud Park. From there Fitzke was taken by a REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Lakeshore Drive was closed for approximately 45 minutes, Hobbs said.

Fitzke sustained numerous rib fractures, a nose and hip fracture, and two compound fractures to one of his legs, Hobbs said. On Saturday evening Fitzke was reported to be in stable condition.

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact Officer Andrew Adams at 707-994-8251, Extension 501.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A retired police commander and part-time sheriff's deputy whose wife allegedly shot him early Friday morning has died.

Robert Piveronas, 66, died early Saturday, according to District Attorney Don Anderson, whose agency is leading the investigation into the shooting.

Piveronas was shot at around 7 a.m. Friday at his Reeves Lane home in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.

District Attorney's Office investigators arrested his 63-year-old wife, Paula Ann Piveronas, about two hours later for attempted murder, assault with a firearm and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.

Reports from the scene indicated Paula Piveronas had shot three times, hitting her husband once in the chest and once in the stomach.

Anderson said Paula Piveronas used a handgun to shoot her husband.

“There's no question that she's the shooter,” Anderson said.

Robert Piveronas was flown by air ambulance from Lampson Field to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on Friday morning, Anderson said.

Sometime overnight, before Robert Piveronas died, his wife posted the required 10-percent portion of her $700,000 bail and was released from the Lake County Jail, according to Anderson.

Anderson, whose office is taking the lead on the case pursuant to the county's critical incident protocol, said he was not yet issuing an arrest warrant charging Paula Piveronas with murder.

He said his staff has more work to do on the investigation before they actually charge her with anything.

“There's a lot to this case,” Anderson said.

Lab and autopsy results, and more interviews with people who knew the couple are parts of the investigation that are yet to be completed, according to Anderson.

So far, Anderson and his investigators aren't sure of what precipitated the shooting.

Piveronas, a retired commander from the Hillsborough Police Department, had for the last several years worked as a seasonal boat patrol deputy with the Lake County Sheriff's Office, and also served as a bailiff in the courts.

Known to his friends as “Piv,” he also was a pilot and past president of the Lake County Airmens Association, according to association member Damon Trimble.

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.