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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
KELSEYVILLE – Sheriff's investigators believe an argument was the basis for an early morning shooting in Kelseyville.
Two men were shot after a struggle over a handgun, during which the handgun discharged, striking one man in the hand and the other in the head, according to a report from Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
The gun went off while in the hand of Leroy Thomas Anderson, 27, of Chico. Teodulo “Junior” Tovar of Lakeport, 21, was struck in the hand, while Alvin Waylon Olson, 23, of Kelseyville was hit in the head by the bullet, according to Bauman.
Bauman reported that, late Tuesday morning, Anderson was booked at the Lake County Jail on two felony charges – assault with a firearm and willful discharge of a firearm in a negligent manner. He is still in custody with bail set at $15,000.
At about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, sheriff's deputies responded to a reported shooting at a residence on Eastlake Drive in Kelseyville, Bauman said. Sheriff’s dispatch received a 911 call from the home reporting that an unidentified male subject showed up at a party there and “randomly” shot another male subject in the head.
Bauman said as many as five sheriff’s units responded to the area and rescue personnel from the Kelseyville Fire District were dispatched to stage until the scene was secured.
When the first sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, Anderson, the suspected shooter, was detained without incident. Bauman said rescue personnel were then cleared to respond in to treat Osborn for a gunshot wound to the head.
As additional sheriffs units arrived at the scene, dispatch received information that a second victim, later identified as Tovar, had also been shot and was being transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital by friends, Bauman said. Units from the Lakeport Police Department and the California Highway Patrol were requested to respond to Sutter Lakeside pending Tovar’s arrival.
Sheriff’s detectives were called out to assist with processing the scene and to interview witnesses. Bauman said a weapon was recovered and Anderson was later transported from the scene to be interviewed.
Following preliminary treatment by local rescue personnel, Osborn was transported by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in critical condition, said Bauman. Tovar was treated for a gunshot wound to the hand and later released from Sutter Lakeside.
Bauman said much about the shooting has yet to be investigated, but preliminary information indicates that Osborn, Anderson, Tovar and several others had gotten into a verbal argument during the party.
At some point during the argument, Tovar and Anderson engaged each other and Anderson allegedly produced a .45-caliber handgun from his jacket to ward off Tovar’s aggression, Bauman said. As Anderson was backing away from Tovar, he was reportedly struck on the head by a bottle from behind and as he and Tovar began struggling over the gun, the weapon discharged.
Tovar was shot in the hand but the round then struck Osborn in the head as he was apparently trying to help Anderson, Bauman said.
Bauman said investigation into the shooting is continuing, and detectives are currently working with the District Attorney’s Office on a search warrant for the scene on Eastlake Drive
Osborn’s current condition at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital is unknown and further information on the case will be released as soon as practical, Bauman said.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE OAKS – As Highway 20 winds out of Lake County, it takes drivers past Walker Ridge Road and mile post marker 44.19, an area that is getting extra attention from officials due to a high number of collisions, including a fatal one last year.
In the past two years six crashes have occurred at the spot, just east of Walker Ridge Road and across the highway from the Abbott and Turkey Run mercury mines, roughly 15 miles east of Clearlake Oaks.
The most recent crash – which occurred on March 16 – sent two women to area hospitals following an extensive rescue effort, as Lake County News has reported.
Northshore Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Pat Brown told Lake County News that there have been six crashes at that site over the last two years. Area firefighters have done a total of four such low-angle rope rescues in the area, where a steep embankment comes off the road. That was the case on March 16.
Phil Frisbie, a spokesman for Caltrans, confirmed that there have been six collisions at the spot, including the March 16 crash.
All of the collisions, Frisbie said, occurred when the road was wet or icy.
He added that speed appears to have been the primary cause of all of the crashes previous to the March 16 incident. The CHP has offered no preliminary finding on that crash's cause yet.
Frisbie said the speed limit in the area is 55 miles per hour, but there is an advisory sign which cautions a slower speed. It's easy to go above the posted speed unless one is breaking or downshifting, he noted.
“Last year we performed an initial investigation of the area,” he said.
As a result, last November Caltrans installed enhanced signage for eastbound travelers and changed the speed advisory sign, reducing the suggested speed from 40 miles per hour down to 35 miles per hour and making the sign larger, Frisbie said. In addition, they added a right arrow to try to get people's attention.
The six collisions is “above what we would expect for that area,” he said.
“That's why it came up on our radar this last year when we started the investigation,” said Frisbie.
A fatal collision took place in the area on Memorial Day 2008, as Lake County News reported last year.
Debra Curtis of Suisun City was driving eastbound mid-afternoon when she lost control of her vehicle during a short rain shower, according to the initial CHP report.
Curtis' Ford Escape spun out and hit a Lexus RX300 driven by Delores Zeni of Santa Rosa. Zeni's passenger, 72-year-old Judith Tilt of Sebastopol, died at the scene.
Both Delores Zeni and Robert Zeni of Santa Rosa were flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with major injuries. Curtis, also suffering major injuries, was flown to Enloe Hospital in Chico.
CHP eventually ruled that the collision's cause was unsafe speed for conditions, said CHP Commander Mark Loveless.
Curtis is now facing prosecution for the crash, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
He said Curtis, 50, was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. The maximum time she could receive upon conviction is a year in the county jail.
Hinchcliff said he couldn't discuss any previous record Curtis might have, and said such issues are only taken into consideration at the time of sentencing, not when a charging decision is being made.
Neither Hinchcliff nor Loveless had a determination about Curtis' alleged speed at the time of the crash.
Curtis' case is set to be in court April 6 for disposition or setting, said Hinchcliff.
The law firm Carter and Carter of Lower Lake is defending Curtis.
Partner Angela Carter believes that it's the roadway that's the issue – not Curtis' driving.
“We're aware of the problems with the roadway and we believe that once we can prove what's going on with the roadway that it will vindicate our client,” she said.
Frisbie said Caltrans' investigation into the area is continuing.
Loveless said CHP is providing the May 2008 crash report to Caltrans for its investigation.
“We're going to be testing the pavement to see if there is anything we need to do or anything that we can do to enhance the performance of that pavement,” Frisbie said.
They'll also look at other sign improvements, he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Team DUI will host the candlelight vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the gazebo in Clearlake's Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive. The community is invited to attend.
The award-winning group formed a few years ago. It includes local officials and citizens who work together to fight underage drinking and drinking and driving. They've presented programs to more than 1,500 local students.
Speakers at the hour-long vigil will include Lake County Sheriff's Capt. Russell Perdock, Chris Tyner, Konocti Unified School District Superintendent Bill MacDougall and Wendy Jensen.
Plans also include a moment of silence and offering luminaria – small paper lanterns – to remember those who have died in DUI crashes, said Larry Fanning, a Team DUI member and pastor of Clearlake's First Baptist Church. Fanning will serve as the vigil's master of ceremonies.
The genesis of the event, said Fanning, came in January at the Judge's Breakfast, hosted by Judge Richard Freeborn at the Main Street Cafe in Clearlake.
Fanning said local law enforcement officials were discussing the 20th anniversary of a crash that claimed the life of three Lower Lake High School students and top athletes – Joseph Dizon, 18; Joshua Burke,18; and Frank Doyle, 19.
The collision occurred on Jan. 14, 1989.
A chaplain with Clearlake Police for 15 years, Fanning said he's used to seeing law enforcement hide their emotions. But as the men spoke about this case, he could see the emotion. Fanning said the story also brought MacDougall, who was in attendance, to tears.
“Twenty years later and there's all this emotion,” said Fanning. “This needs to be used for something positive.”
Fanning started looking into the case, and found that everyone familiar with the incident had a story. “It was a very powerful event for the high school students of the day.”
The car the three young men were riding in hit a tree a few hundred feet away from a party. The driver of the car survived and went to prison, Fanning said. “It's a very tragic story,” he said. “It was just horrific.”
Team DUI decided to hold an event later in the year, during April, which is a month that focuses on DUI prevention, Fanning explained.
He said some of the speakers at the Thursday vigil will discuss the 1989 crash.
Fanning spends at least one night a week riding with Clearlake Police officers.
He said he's been at crash scenes and watched drunk drivers trying to get out of their cars and walk away. He's also accompanied police to parties where young people were drinking. It's an unusual situation for Fanning, who doesn't drink.
Fanning said part of the emphasis of the Thursday vigil is to commit the community to facing the issue of drunk driving.
“It's not going to go away,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE – A parolee who allegedly cut off a GPS tracking bracelet and fled the county earlier this month has been arrested.
Stoney Martin Prior, 31, was arrested Saturday in Humboldt County, Nev., according to officials.
Prior, a high-risk sex offender, had gone missing March 12 after he allegedly took off the bracelet in Lower Lake. Last week officials reported that they believed he was in the area of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation in northern Nevada, as Lake County News has reported.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Gordon Hinkle said Prior was paroled on March 10.
Hinkle said Prior had been committed to state prison in January of 2005 for assault with the intent to commit a specific sexual offense. As a result Prior was placed on the state's Megan's Law Web site, which tracks convicted sex offenders.
Prior had reported to the Ukiah parole unit at noon on March 12 to be fitted with the GPS bracelet, said Hinkle. The investigation revealed that at about 5:30 p.m. the same day, Prior allegedly removed the device. The device's removal was noticed by a parole officer the next morning.
A officer drove to Lower Lake, Prior's last known location, and attempted to find him by showing his picture at several local businesses, said Hinkle.
An attempt also was made to make telephone contact with Prior's grandparents, who had transported him from San Quentin State Prison to the Ukiah parole unit, but Hinkle said that also was unsuccessful.
Officials used GPS data to determine that 30 minutes before Prior allegedly removed the bracelet he entered a local gas station, said Hinkle. His parole officer contacted the gas station manager to request permission to see the surveillance tapes, which showed Prior getting into a minivan driven by his grandparents.
On the tape, the parole agent was able to get the vehicle's license plate, which was traced to an address in Winnemucca, Nev., said Hinkle. Information on other members of Prior's family also was collected during the investigation.
The Humboldt County, Nev. Sheriff's Office, which finally arrested Prior, got involved when parole officials contacted the agency for help in contacting Prior's grandparents, Hinkle said.
Last week, officials had reported that the van Prior left California in was reportedly found on the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, home to the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
