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THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
LAKEPORT – A Tuesday morning report from sheriff's officials sheds more light on the case of a Nice man found dead in his taxi last week, and notes that one of the people who last saw Womachka alive is now in jail on a parole violation.
Lt. Cecil Brown of the Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a report that stated that the death of Paul “Joe” Womachka, 39, of Nice, is being treated as a “criminal homicide.”
Womachka's ex-wife and business partner, Erica Womachka, reported him missing last Wednesday after he didn't return from a run for their Hey Taxi business, as Lake County News previously reported.
Brown's report explained that Womachka had received a call from Robinson Rancheria at about midnight early on Wednesday morning to drive Morgan Matthew Jack, 30, to his home at Big Valley Rancheria in Lakeport.
Two days later, at 3 p.m. Friday, sheriff's deputies received a call about a vehicle under water in the Big Valley Rancheria marina, Brown reported. Divers from the North Shore Dive Team responded to the scene, where they recovered the van and discovered Womachka's body inside.
Brown said sheriff's investigators have interviewed Jack about his contact with Womachka early on Wednesday as part of the homicide investigation.
Sheriff's Det. Corey Paulich arrested Jack, who works as a handyman, for a felony parole violation Friday evening, just hours after Womachka's body was found, according to jail records. He remains in jail on a no-bail hold.
Jack was known to sheriff's officials, said Brown, and had been in and out of the Lake County Jail in recent years.
A call to the California Department of Corrections office in Ukiah to ask about Jack's parole was not returned Tuesday.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell reported on Monday that Womachka's autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. There's no word yet on when the results of the inquest will be ready.
Anyone with information regarding the Womachka case is asked to call Det. Nicole Costanza, 262-4236.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – Officials are still investigating the cause of a three-acre fire that broke out Monday morning along the Hopland Grade.
Alicia Amaro of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said they received the report of the fire at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
The fire was located on Highway 175, about two and a half miles west of Highway 29. It appeared to have started at the edge of the westbound lane.
Amaro said Cal Fire sent five engines, two dozers, two fires crews, two air tankers and one air attack. In to total, about one dozen engines were on scene, with mutual aid coming from Lakeport and Kelseyville Fire Protection districts, and the U.S. Forest Service. About three dozen Department of Corrections firefighters also helped fight the fire.
The California Highway Patrol briefly closed Highway 175 to all traffic as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. A Cal Fire helicopter made a dozen or more water drops while a fixed-wing aircraft made several passes to drop retardant on the fire. Another airplane acted as a spotter.
Firefighters on scene noted that the summer fire season is shaping up to be a bad one.
Amaro said the fire was contained at about 3:40 p.m., with a cause note yet determined.
Another wildland fire broke out along Tule Lake Road near Highway 29 in North Lakeport on Monday afternoon.
Keith Hill of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said the second fire was reported at 2:43 p.m., but did not have a time for its containment. All told, Hill said only a few acres were burned, with the cause unknown.
Cal Fire sent the same response as it did to the first fire – five engines, two dozers, two fires crews, two air tankers and one air attack. Hill said that's the planned response on “high dispatch” days like Monday, when officials look at temperature, the burn index and other factors to determine what's needed to quickly contain the fires.
Hill said Lakeport and Kelseyville Fire also were on scene.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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