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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Lucerne man believed to have been responsible for numerous burglaries and several more attempted break-ins over the last month has been arrested.
Raymon Narvaes, 25, was arrested Sunday evening after being found in a vehicle with a trunk filled with stolen property, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said that, during the first two weeks of November, the sheriff’s office responded to and investigated an inordinate number of residential burglaries in the north Lakeport area.
A total of 24 burglaries and seven attempted burglaries have been reported in the west and Northshore communities of Clear Lake since the beginning of the month, said Bauman.
He said seven burglaries and two attempted burglaries that included two stolen vehicles were reported at several different mobile home parks in that area. Five other homes in the area of Lakeshore Boulevard north of the city also were burglarized.
The burglaries began to extend to the communities of Nice and Lucerne on the Northshore of Clear Lake, said Bauman.
As recent as Monday, 12 additional burglaries and four additional attempted burglaries had been reported in those areas, he said. Most recently, the Lakeshore Boat and Dry Storage on Lakeshore Boulevard north of Lakeport and the Clear Lake Boat and Storage on Soda Bay Road south of Lakeport had also reported break-ins to five of their storage units.
At the same time, sheriff's patrol and detective branches began to develop connections between the burglaries, Bauman said.
At about 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, an observant deputy patrolling Lucerne saw a maroon Pontiac run a stop sign on 14th Avenue, Bauman said.
The vehicle was stopped and the occupants were identified as 55-year-old Fred Ralph Pearl of Nice and Narvaes, who already had been a person of interest in the rash of burglaries throughout the month, according to Bauman.
While the deputy was detaining Pearl and Narvaes, Bauman said Narvaes admitted to being a convicted felon and having a gun in the trunk of the car.
Bauman said when the deputy went to retrieve the weapon, he found the trunk also contained several bags containing numerous items of jewelry, electronics, credit cards, keys and other items suspected to be stolen.
Some of the items were tracked back to a resident of the Meadow Point Mobile Home Park on Highway 20 in Upper Lake, said Bauman. When the woman was contacted and shown the property recovered from the car stop, she had not realized she had been the victim of yet another burglary.
Bauman said Narvaes, whose profession is listed as chef on his booking sheet, was arrested on felony charges of possessing stolen property, being a felon in possession of a firearm and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Narvaes was subsequently booked at the Lake County Jail with bail set at $250,000 bail.
Pearl was released at the scene of the traffic stop as Narvaes claimed responsibility for all the stolen property and Pearl had no evident connection to the property, said Bauman.
On Monday, as sheriff's detectives questioned Narvaes at the county jail about the recent rash of burglaries, he reportedly admitted to committing a number of the crimes, including one of the related vehicle thefts, said Bauman. Narvaes also reportedly agreed to accompany investigators to point out the homes he had burglarized.
By the end of Monday, Bauman said Narvaes confirmed burglarizing four of the homes at the Perk’s and Sterling Shore Mobile Parks in north Lakeport, one of the homes at the Castlewood Estates Mobile Home Park in Nice, and two other homes in Lakeport and Nice.
While detectives are not convinced Narvaes has admitted to all the burglaries he has actually committed, Bauman said it can't be concluded that he is solely responsible for the recent rash of property crimes.
Bauman said many of the burglary cases remain pending further investigation and, as always, homeowners should continue to be cognizant of the security of their homes and those of their neighbors.
Inside the Lakeport city limits, a spate of robberies targeting mobile home parks also have occurred this month, as Lake County News has reported. Lakeport Police officials continue to investigate those break-ins, some of which appear to be related to each other.
Bauman said it's a possibility that the burglaries in the city and the county could be related, but detectives haven't yet reached that conclusion.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at [email protected].
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Fred Gene Stillman, 50, had his parole hearing on Nov. 19 at Avenal State Prison in Kings County, according to former Lake County District Attorney Gary Luck, who is now working as a part-time deputy district attorney.
Luck, who prosecuted the case before he was elected district attorney, attended the parole hearing to argue against Stillman's release from state prison.
In November 1995 Stillman was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon in the murder of Bart Jackman earlier that same year, Luck said.
Stillman was found guilty of slaying Jackman outside of the Landmark Lounge in Clearlake, said Luck.
Stillman, his wife Luanne and daughter Jennifer all participated in the crime. Luanne Stillman was found guilty by the same jury that convicted her husband of assault with a deadly weapon. Jennifer Stillman, who was 16 years old at the time of the crime, was tried as a juvenile.
Fred Stillman received an indeterminate term of 16 years to life, according to Luck. During the same trial, Stillman also was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon on Michael Betts and was sentenced to an additional four-year term.
Luck said Stillman first had to serve two years of the four-year term before starting his life sentence on the murder conviction.
Based on his sentence, Stillman first became eligible for parole on Nov. 22, 2009. Luck said a parole hearing is generally conducted at least one year prior to the anticipated parole release date.
At his first hearing, Stillman's parole was denied, said Luck.
The commissioners denied parole, Luck said, citing Stillman’s lack of viable parole plans, insufficient participation in alcohol and substance abuse treatment, and lack of progress in completing any educational goals.
Luck said their decision also was impacted by the fact that Stillman was involved in several fights while in prison which would cause him to still present an unreasonable risk to public safety.
In concluding the hearing, the commissioners informed Stillman that he must make significant changes in his behavior and progress in completing his educational goals during the next five years if he hopes to get a parole release date at his next hearing, according to Luck.
The commissioners for the Board of Prison terms extended the time until Mr. Stillman’s next parole hearing for a five-year period. Luck said this means Stillman must serve another full five years in prison before he is again eligible to have a parole hearing.
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On Monday, First Appellate Court justices agreed unanimously in a three-page decision to uphold the 15-years-to-life sentence that Ricardo Tapia Muniz, now 20, received from visiting Judge Galen Hathaway on May 2.
Muniz was prosecuted for stabbing and critically injuring then-19-year-old Clearlake Oaks resident Alex Larranaga near Library Park on March 16, 2007.
The prosecution had alleged that Muniz and four fellow defendants had attacked Larranaga – who had just emerged from a nearby restaurant where he had dinner with his family – because they believed his brother was a rival gang member and thought he had "flashed" gang signs at them.
In an agreement with the District Attorney's Office, Muniz pleaded guilty to aggravated mayhem and an enhancement that he committed the crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang. In exchange for the pleas, an attempted murder charge and a special allegation of causing great bodily injury were dismissed, according to court documents.
On May 28, Muniz filed his appeal, in which his attorney raised no specific issues with the prosecution but asked for an independent review of the case record, the justices noted in their decision.
"We discern no error in the sentencing," wrote Justice Ignazio Ruvolo. "The refusal to grant probation, and the sentencing choices made by the trial court were consistent with applicable law, supported by substantial evidence, and were well within the discretion of the trial court."
Justice Ruvolo added that the restitution fines and penalties amounting to $2,000 imposed against Muniz were supported by the law and facts, and that Muniz was represented by an attorney at all times.
The District Attorney's Office said in May that the sentence requires that Muniz serve a minimum of 15 years before he is eligible for parole.
Muniz, according to court documents, is serving his sentence at San Quentin State Prison.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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“Thanksgiving always produces a high volume of traffic; therefore, the CHP intends to provide as much visibility as possible in order to ensure a safe holiday weekend,” said CHP Lt. Mark Loveless, commander of the Clear Lake Area office.
The official Thanksgiving holiday driving period begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, and continues through midnight on Sunday, Nov. 30. During this time the CHP will implement the Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP), putting every available officer on the road.
“Be well rested when you start and allow extra time in case of congested traffic,” said Loveless. “Drive safe, drive sober and wear your seat belt.”
In addition to busy roadways, inclement weather is another obstacle motorists may encounter. Rain, fog, wind and snow have been known to create not only frustrating, but hazardous conditions for drivers. Those traveling through the mountains should carry chains in their vehicle.
Last year, during the Thanksgiving MEP, 41 people died in 4,337 collisions that occurred in California. More than half of the vehicle occupants killed were involved in alcohol-related collisions.
“Thanksgiving is a time for us all to be thankful for what we have. If fewer people lose their lives on our roads and highways, I will have something else to be truly thankful for," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow.
Another sobering statistic, 1,628 people were arrested by CHP officers for driving under the influence last year over the Thanksgiving holiday; a nearly 2.5-percent decrease from the same time period the previous year.
The Thanksgiving MEP is also an Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort (CARE) holiday. Operation CARE is a joint program of the nation’s highway patrols that promotes safe driving on interstate highways during holiday periods.
CARE highways in California include Interstates 80, 40, 15 (San Bernardino to the Nevada border) and 5 (Bakersfield north to the Oregon line).
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports