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Adam Jessen, 29, will face felony DUI and child endangerment once he's released from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted for treatment of injuries following the crash, which occurred at 2:56 p.m. Tuesday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Garcia.
Garcia said Jessen was driving his 1986 Mercury north on Highway 29 north of Spruce Grove Road, just outside of Hidden Valley Lake, when his vehicle drifted onto the east shoulder.
Jessen attempted to correct the vehicle's path and crossed opposing traffic, going over the west side of the highway and rolling over a couple of times before coming to rest on its wheels approximately 80 feet down a steep embankment, according to Garcia.
An air ambulance transported Jessen to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with severe but not life-threatening injuries, Garcia reported. A 4-year-old female passenger riding with Jessen sustained minor to moderate injuries and was taken to Redbud Community Hospital by South Lake County Fire Protection District ambulance.
Garcia said Jessen is believed to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
Officer Robert Hearn is investigating the incident, Garcia said.
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THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED
KELSEYVILLE – On Wednesday, state and local officials eradicated thousands of illegal marijuana plants which Supervisor Rob Brown found on his property last week.
The Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP – a multi-agency task force including members from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Fish and Game, California Department of Justice and California Highway Patrol, among them – pulled out the illegal gardens in a Wednesday morning operation.
Approximately 4,887 marijuana plants, which were not yet bearing buds, were cut down and buried on the property near Bottle Rock Road in Kelseyville, said Ryan Pontecorvo of the California Department of Justice, who was participating in the plants' removal.
Brown said the plants initially were discovered last Tuesday and Wednesday, when a heavy equipment operator working to clear brush on the land was confronted by a Hispanic male who tried to make the operator leave the area.
Since then, flyovers revealed the grow area encompassed about 100 of Brown's 300 acres, running along draws and low areas between the area's hillsides.
Tree and brush canopy shaded the garden from view, but Brown said the bright green color of the young marijuana plants was clearly visible from the air.
In one spot, Brown said a spring that drains into a dry creek bed that runs only in the winter time – and which feeds into Cole Creek – was dammed as a water source for the plants.
A sheriff's office SWAT team went into the gardens early Wednesday morning before the eradications began in an attempt to locate any grower suspects, Pontecorvo said. No individuals were found in the growers' camp, which was located in thick brush on Brown's property.
Although none of the growers were found Wednesday, Pontecorvo said law enforcement did find a burning candle at the camp, which the superstitious growers light as an offering to a protective saint but which also posed a fire danger. They also found shotgun shells, he added.
A helicopter trip over the area late Wednesday morning showed extensive amounts of drip line and garbage the growers had left behind.
Pontecorvo said the operation likely had been built up over a period of years. Finding such grows on private land, when the property owner isn't aware of it, is not uncommon, he said.
Brown's small herd of buffalo stood on a hillside overlooking the scene as Pontecorvo and about 20 other law enforcement task force members and support staff went about the work of destroying the plants.
Many of the men – wearing green or camouflage fatigues complete with radios, drinking water and weapons – were dropped into the gardens on a 100-foot long line via a helicopter in a technique called Short Term Airborne Operation, or STABO, which they began using in 1993.
Pontecorvo said using the helicopter allows them to cover more land area quicker. In the case of Brown's property, they were able to traverse the large amount of acreage in only about two and a half hours.
Berk Berkley, who has been with CAMP since he retired as the sheriff of Madera County in 1986, said the helicopter's $809 per hour services are provided for free to counties that participate in CAMP, which is funded primarily by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and run by the California Department of Justice.
As to who was responsible for the illicit marijuana grow, Pontecorvo said it's most likely Mexican men hired by Mexican organized crime. He said the men are brought over the border by “coyotes” – or people smugglers – and deposited in the grow area, where they're left for months at a time to tend the gardens.
Scouting for sites usually starts as early as March, said Pontecorvo, with young marijuana plant clones planted in the areas and assisted in their growing by heavy doses of fertilizers such as Miracle-Gro or Romeo, which can wreak havoc on the environment.
Berkley said growers like places like Lake County because it's very isolated. “That's what they look for.”
Brown and his wife, Kim, were still unnerved by the thought that they and their children had been close to the area where the growing activity was taking place. Trails around the sites are popular horseback riding areas for the Brown children and their friends.
The Browns also reported that a large beef cow of theirs had gone missing, with the last tracks of hers that they found leading up to some pine trees on the hillside, where the gardens also extended. The conclusion, at least for now, is that she may have become meat for the growers.
Pontecorvo said CAMP's Region 5 team – which covers Lake County – is spending a lot of time in the county these days.
Last week, CAMP activities in Lake County resulted in the eradication of approximately 53,472 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $240 million, as Lake County News has reported.
Pontecorvo said the height of the eradication season is July 1 through mid-October.
One of the issues the Browns are still facing is cleanup. Pontecorvo said cleaning up an acre of land after an illegal garden is eradicated costs about $11,000 – from filling in cisterns dug to water the plants to dealing with miles of leftover irrigation drip line, besides damages to wild animals and natural vegetation, which can be harder to address.
Rob Brown said he'll start hauling out garbage and small portable propane tanks left behind by the growers, the latter a particular safety hazard in light of this year's volatile fire season.
Pontecorvo emphasized that anyone who comes across an illegal marijuana grow – whether on private or public lands – should leave the area immediately and notify law enforcement. He said growers often are armed and very dangerous, with recent cases being reported in other parts of the state where someone happening across a grow was killed.
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Curtis Frank Anderson, 36, of Nice was tasered in the backyard of a residence at the corner of Foothill Drive and Victoria Street at about 10 p.m.
Anderson, who was driving an older model pickup, had traveled down Foothill Drive at a high rate of speed and came to a stop in front of the home, fleeing into the backyard.
The house's occupants emerged and began screaming at two sheriff's deputies who emerged from a single sheriff's car, who pursued the man into the yard and told him to stop.
The deputies were approached by another subject who they told to get back. At one point a deputy ordered one of the men to put down a stick.
When their orders weren't followed, one of the deputies deployed a taser that hit Anderson, taking him to the ground.
While in the process of taking Anderson back to the vehicle, several subjects from the home continued to scream obscenities at the deputies. When another subject refused to back away from the patrol car, he, too, was taken into custody.
Two other patrol cars arrived at the scene and assisted with an investigation. A towing company impounded Anderson's pickup at the order of the sheriff's deputies.
Anderson was subsequently arrested and transported to have a blood draw before he was booked into the Lake County Jail on a felony charge of possessing/manufacturing/selling a dangerous weapon or explosive and a felony parole violation.
He also was charged with misdemeanors including driving under the influence, obstructing a peace officer and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
No information was available early Wednesday morning about the other subject arrested at the same time as Anderson.
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MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST – On Tuesday firefighters came to the rescue of an injured horse found near the fire line of the Soda Complex, burning on the Mendocino National Forest near Lake Pillsbury.
At around 8 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters working on the western and southwestern edge of the Mill Fire came across an injured horse as crews were constructing containment line and preparing for a backfire operation, according to Forest Service spokesperson Marc Peebles.
Firefighters assessed the injured horse and found that he sustained injuries to his front legs and abrasions, said Peebles. The horse also appeared to be very dehydrated, weak and may have been in this condition for several days.
Peebles said they suspect that the horse may have been spooked and ran off during the initial lightening storm several weeks ago.
Incident Commander Dave Fiorella of Southern California Incident Management No. 3 ordered his Management Team to find a local veterinarian and for firefighters to prepare for a rescue mission, Peebles said. Dr Sherry Cronin D.V.M. of Covelo was flown by helicopter into the area to assess the horse’s condition prior to rescue.
The horse got some special tender loving care from his firefighter friends, who fed the horse apples from their fire line sack lunches and gave him water to help him recover, according to Peebles.
After a couple of hours, the horse began to show signs of improvement, Peebles said, and Dr. Cronin determined the horse’s injuries were minor enough that firefighters could walk him to a ranch a few miles away.
Peebles said the firefighters on the line affectionately dubbed the horse “Mr. Ed.”
Officials offered a special thanks to the Mendocino County Animal Shelter for helping to locate Dr Cronin and a temporary shelter location.
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