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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY – More than a year after a boating accident resulted in the death of a Willows woman, charges are being brought against a Carmichael man who was operating the sailboat on which she was a passenger.
District Attorney Jon Hopkins announced Thursday that he was charging Bismarck Dinius, 39, with felony vehicular manslaughter involving a vessel and misdemeanor boating under the influence of alcohol.
Dinius is scheduled for arraignment in Department 2 in Lakeport at 9 a.m. Friday.
Hopkins said Dinius was at the tiller of a a 27-foot sailboat owned by Willows resident Mark Weber after 9 p.m. on April 29, 2006.
While sailing near Konocti Bay, the sailboat – which included three other passengers besides Dinius and Weber – was hit by a 24-foot Baja motorboat driven by Clearlake Park resident Russell Perdock, who is a chief deputy at the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
In the collision, one of the sailboat's passengers, Willows resident Lynn Thornton, was seriously injured. Days later, she died at U.C. Davis Medical Center, according to the original statement by Sheriff Rod Mitchell.
Hopkins reported that after the accident Mitchell called on the District Attorney's Office to participate in the investigation in order to avoid “any appearance of impropriety” because of Perdock's involvement.
A sergeant and a deputy from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office Marine Services who are experienced in investigating boating accidents also took part in the investigation, said Hopkins.
Before moving forward with prosecuting the case, Hopkins said he referred the case to the California Attorney General’s office. In doing so, Hopkins again cited the desire to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
He said he asked the Attorney General for an independent opinion on who should be charged in the case and if his office should be recused because of its close working relationship with the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
After a complete review of the case, Hopkins said the Attorney General’s Office found no reason for the District Attorney to step down.
In charging Dinius, Hopkins alleged that he was operating without running lights and was under the influence of alcohol. An original report of Dinius' blood alcohol level reported it was 0.12, which is above the legal limit of 0.08.
Hopkins said no charges were filed against Perdock or Weber. Hopkins added that Weber was allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.
Deputy District Attorney David McKillop, whose position is funded by the new Office of Traffic Safety grant for prosecuting driving under the influence cases, is prosecuting the case, said Hopkins. Tom Clements, who recently retired from his position as a lieutenant with the Clearlake Police Department, is assisting McKillop as a part-time investigator, which the grant also funding Clements' position.
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CLEARLAKE – Fire crews were able to quickly contain a small wildland fire near San Joaquin Avenue in Clearlake Thursday afternoon.
The fire was reported at 1:27 p.m., said Justin Benguerel of Cal Fire's Emergency Command Center.
Captain Brice Trask of the Lake County Fire Protection District said the blaze was about five acres in size and originated on San Joaquin Avenue, burning up to the west end of Carter Lane.
Trask said his department sent 14 personnel to the blaze – including the chief, and assistant and battalion chiefs – along with one water tender and three engines.
Cal Fire dispatched two air tankers, one air attack, one helicopter, two fire crews consisting of 36 firefighters, one dozer and five fire engines with three firefighters each, Benguerel reported.
The fire didn't immediately threaten any homes, said Trask, but if it had burned about 600 yards farther it would have reached a number of residences.
Trask said the fire was contained quickly, by about 2 p.m., but crews had just returned to quarters at 6 p.m.
“We did mop up for quite awhile,” he said, which included knocking out fire hot spots.
The fire's cause is under investigation, Trask said.
Fire season is well under way, said Trask. Because of that, he reminded homeowners that it's important to keep 100 feet of defensible space – free from weeds, brush and other flammable materials – around their homes.
But be careful about when you're doing your mowing, Trask said.
One of the major causes of fires during hot and dry weather is using lawnmower or flail mowers, he said. When the blade hits a rock, it can cause a spark, which can then result in a blaze, Trask said.
That was the case in a small fire at Anderson Marsh State Park on Thursday afternoon, he said. While mowing, a maintenance worker set off a small blaze that, luckily, was quickly contained.
Trask advised not mowing after noon during the hot weather.
In other fire-related news, Trask said that insurance and workman's compensation investigators are looking at the Brown's RV blaze.
That fire was set off June 1, reportedly from a propane tank explosion. One person was injured but Trask said he couldn't report on the victim because of legal requirements.
“That's going to be under investigation for quite a while,” he said.
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LAKEPORT – A local California Highway Patrol officer will be in court Friday morning to face allegations of elder abuse and fraud arising from a Lake County District Attorney's Office investigation.
District Attorney Jon Hopkins said his office filed the felony charges against CHP Sgt. Timothy Poindexter, 48, on Wednesday.
Specifically, Poindexter was charged with elder abuse of a financial nature, and grand theft of personal property, according to Hopkins.
The charges, Hopkins explained, arose out of a real estate transaction, in which Poindexter was purchasing property in the Finley area from an elderly couple.
The CHP placed Poindexter on administrative leave after the charges were filed Wednesday, pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation, Hopkins reported.
Hopkins said Poindexter has not been arrested or taken into custody, an issue that will be addressed when he appears in court Friday at 9 a.m. in Superior Court's Department 2.
The Clear Lake CHP office declined to give details about Poindexter's employment or his length of service with the CHP.
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LAKEPORT – “OK, let's go.”
That was the final order from General Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, on the morning of June 5, 1944, after receiving word that a few days' break in the North Atlantic's stormy weather was forecast.
That, Eisenhower decided, was enough time to carry out what would become the greatest invasion in military history.
The following day, an estimated 150,000 men would invade Normandy by land, sea and air, an effort that included 5,000 ships and 11,000 airplanes.
On Wednesday morning, veterans gathered at the Pearl Harbor memorial flagstaff in Lakeport's Library Park to remember that day 63 years ago.
Among those gathered was a man whose boots actually touched the sands of Omaha Beach, where US forces were concentrated during the invasion. That beach would later be called “Bloody Omaha,” because or the estimated 2,200 casualties the American forces took there under the Germans' fierce defenses and the coast's high cliffs.
Allied forces overall suffered about 10,000 casualties on D-Day, according to historical reports.
Ronnie Bogner was the master of ceremonies for Wednesday morning's commemoration, which featured the singing of the National Anthem by former Miss Lake County Saundra Combs, and a three-volley salute and Taps by the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team.
Sea Scout Ship Whisper Bosun Desmond O'Connor and Mate Trina Lane helped raise the American flag. Also in attendance were members of the California Highway Patrol and Lakeport Police. (For a full picture gallery of the ceremonies, visit our Gallery section.)
Captain Woody Hughes led the invocation and was a featured event speaker.
Hughes emphasized the Normandy Invasion's importance in breaking Adolf Hitler's stranglehold on Europe.
The invasion, Hughes noted, was the first invasion to cross the English Channel in nine centuries.
He shared the story of visiting Devon, England, where he met Ken Small, who helped discover the untold story of Slapton Sands, a practice invasion that took place along the English coast in April 1944.
While walking Devon's beaches, Small – who had retired and moved to the area, where he bought a a guest house – discovered US military artifacts and began to write the government and talk to locals. During the course of his search he helped locate a US Sherman tank underwater just off the coast, on which fishermen often hooked their nets.
During the Slapton Sands practice invasion, two German torpedo boats appeared and attacked the destroyer flotilla, according to a US Navy history. What followed was the death of 749 men.
Those battle dead are part of the D-Day story, which Hughes said is important to remember.
Following Hughes was Lucerne resident “Gypsy” Jim Harris, 83, who has witnessed more history than most people have read about.
Harris has the distinction of having been at Pearl Harbor at the start of the war and at D-Day toward the war's end. He grew up in Oakland and joined the Navy at age 15. At 17 he was present when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. He was a 19-year-old second class petty officer and sonar man by the time of D-Day.
He also was at Slapton Sands, where he estimated 3,200 men died – more than four times the official report.
Harris shared the story of being aboard the destroyer USS McCook (DD 496), damaged in a bombing raid just days before the invasion. He said the ship sailed around England, up the Irish Sea and down to Wales, where the McCook was repaired in 36 hours.
On June 4, he said, the invasion nearly launched, but was called back due to bad weather.
In an interview later on Wednesday, Harris said mine sweepers and smaller boats the sailors called “spit kits” had already started out toward the French coast when bad weather forced the commanders to call of the invasion.
“We had to go out like a bunch of cowboys and herd them back to Portland,” said Harris, which was a city on the east coast of England.
Finally, with a predicted break in the weather, the invasion went forward on June 6.
Early that morning, they headed for Omaha, Harris explained during the ceremony. “At 4:30 in the morning, we started to see the mists of Normandy.”
Harris said he and his fellow sailors watched as the Germans destroyed Army tanks on Omaha Beach. The USS McCook, the USS Carmick and two other destroyers in his squadron then began returning fire on German Tiger tanks high above the beaches in the woods. The firing ships destroyed about 20 German tanks, he said.
Down on the beach, US soldiers struggled to get past German guns, Harris recalled.
“Our troops who landed on the beach were in a murderous crossfire,” said Harris.
From the USS McCook, Harris said the gun control officer spotted machine gun muzzle fire from the cliffs above the beach, which the Germans had hallowed out and were using a a firing position. From there, the Germans were able to place a “withering fire” down the length of Omaha, Harris said.
The gun officer reported spotting the German guns to the captain, and the ship fired on the position. “They just tore up that whole cliff,” said Harris.
The ships were so close to the beach they were actually in the surf, and had to reverse their engines to keep from running aground, said Harris.
Over the three days that the battle ensued, ships like the McCook – which Harris said were “floating artillery” – helped destroy German positions and command posts, Harris told Lake County News.
Later, Harris and the McCook would head south to participate in Operation Anvil, the invasion of southern France, where Vichy forces helped resist the Allied invasion.
Later in 1944, Harris would go on to Corsica and Italy. But by year's end, an injury he suffered while on duty in the South Pacific earlier in the war, earned him a trip back to the states and his new wife.
Harris said he's undertaking a project to encourage county residents to send the names of loved ones, friends and relative who served at D-Day to the Veterans Service Office, where they'll be compiled. He said he'd like to get names, ranks, military branches and phone numbers where he can call for more information.
To send in names of D-Day vets, drop them off or mail them to the Veterans Service Office, 255 N. Forbes, Lakeport, 95453.
Why is he taking on that project, which he calls a labor of love?
“When you're over there, you're scared to death. You haven't got time to think about it. But later, it gets to be something that was important in your life,” Harris said.
“An old man has nothing but his memories,” he said, adding, “They're memories that should be passed on.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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