LAKEPORT, Calif. – Among several cases involving allegations of looting during the Valley fire, two have been resolved, one has been dismissed and another is set for preliminary hearing later this year.

District Attorney Don Anderson told Lake County News that among the cases his office reviewed one has been dismissed.

That's the case involving 36-year-old Whispering Pines resident Steven Fredrick Worley, arrested in Cobb on Sept. 14 after a short vehicle pursuit with a sheriff's deputy.

After Worley was stopped the deputy found a number of items in his vehicle, chief among them a safe, Anderson said.

Anderson said his office ultimately chose to dismiss the case, explaining that Worley had permission to possess the safe, which belonged to one of his friends.

Regarding the cases that have been settled, on Oct. 12, one of the felony cases Anderson has handled personally resulted in a plea agreement.

Jeremiah Patrick McGinnis, 25, of Cobb, pleaded to two charges of burglary, Anderson said.

On Sept. 17 McGinnis was arrested in Loch Lomond in a Jeep Grand Cherokee that he had stolen from Lower Lake and painted in an attempt to make it look like a law enforcement vehicle, officials said.

After stopping McGinnis, a sheriff's deputy found in the Jeep items believed to be stolen, including a box of live ammunition, a flat screen television, a DVD player, an air rifle, an air pistol and a drill. Also found in the vehicle was a box of spray paint, a crate filled with aerosol can solvents and a box of matches, authorities said.

Anderson said McGinnis had two victims. McGinnis pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary for burglarizing the home and shed of the first victim, and for the second victim, he pleaded to second-degree burglary for stealing the Jeep from a detached garage.

As a result of the plea agreement, additional – and lesser – charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition, felony vandalism, unauthorized entry into a disaster area and possession of burglary tools were dropped, Anderson said.

When McGinnis is sentenced on Nov. 16, he is expected to get five years in state prison, Anderson said.

Another case that's been resolved is the misdemeanor case involving 26-year-old Royce Sterling Moore of Lakeport, who deputies arrested Sept. 15 as he was trying to get into the Cobb area while in possession of gloves, a black bandanna, a BB gun and a backpack that contained pliers, channel locks and a cordless drill with a grinder wheel attachment, and a methamphetamine smoking pipe.

Anderson said Moore reached an agreement to plead guilty to being in a restricted area during a disaster.

Moore received 75 days in the Lake County Jail, three years' probation that includes a search and seizure clause, and 40 hours of work service, Anderson said.

The last of the cases involves three defendants who were arrested on Sept. 17: Dyami Gene Connell, 23, of Brisbane; Michael James Jimenez, 28, of Brisbane; and 23-year-old David Michael Cesari of San Francisco.

The three men were taken into custody near Hidden Valley Lake after authorities found a full face concealing mask, three pairs of gloves, tools, duct tape, zip ties, numerous key rings with keys, acetone, lighter, headlamps, flashlights, binoculars, empty plastic bags, empty garbage bags, backpack and large knives in their vehicle, the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported.

Cesari also was found with a loaded .40-caliber pistol and magazine hidden in his clothing, authorities said.

Anderson has charged all three with conspiracy. Cesari is charged with having a concealed firearm in his possession, having a concealed firearm in a vehicle, having a loaded firearm in a vehicle, possession of burglary tools and unauthorized entry in a disaster area, and Connell and Jimenez are charged with possession burglary tools and unauthorized entry in a disaster area.

Anderson said all three are set for preliminary hearing on Dec. 2.

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.