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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH A NEW CHARGE FOR THE SUSPECT.
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – A 10-year-old girl has died following a Friday afternoon stabbing and an alleged suspect in the case has been arrested.
Chief Deputy James Bauman reported Saturday morning that James Ronald Pagan, 31, was arrested on charges of murder for his alleged part in the girl's death and attempted murder in connection with his allegedly stabbing a second subject, a 13-year-old female.
Pagan, who also is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and willful cruelty to a child, is being held in the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail, Bauman reported.
Bauman reported that sheriff's deputies and Cal Fire rescue personnel responded to a location on Firethorn Road in Hidden Valley Lake at 4:30 p.m. Friday after receiving a report that a 10-year-old female had been stabbed with a knife.
Upon arrival, Cal Fire medics cared for the girl while sheriff's deputies found the second stabbing victim, the 13-year-old girl, Bauman reported.
As rescue personnel were helping the girls deputies interviewed eyewitnesses, who identified a male suspect as allegedly being responsible for the assaults, according to Bauman.
Following the stabbings the male had allegedly fled to a Sugar Bush Court home, Bauman said.
Deputies found Pagan at a Sugar Bush Court home, where Bauman said he was detained and questioned, while sheriff's detectives were brought in to process the scene.
The 10-year-old girl was taken to Redbud Community Hospital for treatment, where Bauman said she died as a result of her injuries.
Officials flew the 13-year-old victim to the Children’s Hospital in Oakland for treatment of her injuries. Bauman had no update on her condition Saturday morning.
Because of the girls' ages, their identifies have not been released.
Bauman said sheriff's detectives processed the crime scene throughout the night, and Pagan was subsequently arrested and transported to the jail.
The investigation is continuing, with Bauman reporting that more information is expected to be released Monday afternoon.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
On Friday Judge Richard Martin sentenced Octavio Juan Sanchez, 21, of Ukiah to prison for the July 4, 2007, gang assault on a 14-year-old boy in Lakeport, Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff reported.
On Jan. 11 Sanchez pleaded guilty to charges including felony assault likely to produce great bodily injury, participation in a criminal street gang and promoting criminal conduct by criminal gang members, Hinchcliff reported. Other charges and special allegations were dismissed.
Sanchez's plea to the gang participation charge will constitute a “strike” if Sanchez is convicted of a felony in the future, Hinchcliff added.
Sanchez's attorney, J. David Markham, did not return a call seeking comment on Friday.
According to the investigation into the July 2007, which was led by Lakeport Police Department, Sanchez was a documented member of the Aztec Tribal Chollos, a known Mendocino and Sonoma County gang affiliated with the Nortenos, Hinchcliff reported. Sanchez also had a previous gang-related conviction for assault in Mendocino County.
The July 4, 2007, assault took place when Sanchez and other gang members – who were in a residence near the Safeway shopping center on 11th Street in Lakeport – saw the 14-year-old victim and three others leaving Perko's restaurant, wearing blue clothing commonly worn by Sureno gang members, according to Hinchcliff.
A witness in the residence reported that Sanchez and his fellow Nortenos began talking about the “Scraps” – a derogatory term used by Norteno gang members to describe Sureno gang members – coming out of Perkos, Hinchcliff explained.
The attack resulted because the Norteno gang members believed the victim and his friends were Surenos. The victim's brother, who was with him during the attack, admitted to belonging to the Angelino Heights gang, which Hinchcliff said is a Sureno gang in Lake County.
Sanchez's group confronted the victim and his companions and a fight resulted, during which the boy was struck in the head with a rock, Hinchcliff explained. The teen was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, treated and released.
In an even more tragic twist to the story, two days after the gang assault the 14-year-old was involved in a vehicle collision near Kelseyville and suffered internal injuries. He died on July 8, 2007 as a result of those injuries, as Lake County News reported last summer.
Hinchcliff said at Friday's sentencing Sanchez asked the court not to sentence him to anything greater than the midterm, claiming that he was not really participating in gang activity. In return, Hinchcliff argued that defendant should be sentenced to the upper term because of his prior record and the seriousness of the crimes.
Citing Sanchez’s lengthy criminal record of theft, drug- and gang-related crimes, Judge Martin sentenced Sanchez to the upper term of four years in prison.
Hinchcliff said another participant in the assault, a juvenile,was prosecuted previously in the juvenile court.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT – It's been five and a half years since Barbara LaForge was murdered in her downtown business. It's an unsolved crime that continues to haunt those who knew her and the community at large.
Now, LaForge's friend, Gail Salituri, an artist whose gallery shared space with LaForge's frame shop, is founding an effort to not only keep LaForge's memory alive but also to benefit other victims of violence.
Beginning April 1, Salituri is kicking off a fundraising campaign for the LaForge Memorial Fund.
LaForge, a talented artist and framer, was shot to death on a weekday morning in the downtown gallery in October of 2002. The case remains open and under active investigation, according to police.
Salituri's motto for the campaign is, “It's never too late to be remembered.”
The fund is now open at Westamerica Bank, Salituri said, and can receive private donations, all of which will benefit Lake Family Resource Center's domestic violence shelter fundraising campaign.
As part of the fundraiser, Salituri will hold raffles and silent auctions of artwork in the coming months.
Gloria Flaherty, executive director of Lake Family Resource Center, said Salituri's offer was a definite surprise.
“Gail's offer was, like, a bolt from the blue,” Flaherty said.
The idea appears to have sprung from a contact between Wilda Shock, a member of the center's Wine and Chocolate committee, who initially spoke to Salituri about donating a painting for that event's silent auction. The Wine and Chocolate Fundraiser was held in February.
Salituri did donate a painting, but she decided she wanted to become further involved.
"For years, I have thought long and hard about how we can remember Barbara LaForge,” said Salituri. “When I was introduced to this project by Wilda Shock, I knew immediately this would be the perfect venue and remembrance.
“Although I do know it is five and a half years later, I felt it was never too late to do something, and the motto immediately came into my mind, 'It's never too late to be remembered,'” Salituri added. “Helping someone in distress is something that is close to my heart, and also something Barbara would have done.”
Having Salituri's support is a special addition to the shelter effort, said Flaherty. “She's such a respected artist, and to have someone of her status to volunteer to assist is humbling, and it's an honor.”
The LaForge fund's creation comes in time for the official launch of the shelter project's capital campaign, scheduled for later this month, said Flaherty.
Over the last year, the shelter project has raised $130,000, which Flaherty called “seed money” for the campaign. “The ultimate goal is around $3 million,” said Flaherty.
Flaherty said the $3 million figure will depend on a combination of government and private foundation grants, along with local fundraising.
In addition to the actual funds raised, Flaherty said they're also receiving donations of materials and help.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital will lease the center property for the shelter at $1 a year for 50 years, said Flaherty. Kelseyville Lumber will provide building materials at cost plus 5 percent. Other community members, including contractors, are offering labor and other types of help.
The April fundraiser will include a silent auction for a newly painted, original Salituri oil, “Lake County Hills Spring Bloom.” The painting features Salituri's eye-popping use of color and light to portray the local landscape. The framed 8-inch by 10-inch original is valued at $475.
For the raffle, noted local watercolor artist John Clarke – who each year paints an original watercolor for use as the Lake County Wine Auction poster – is donating a lithograph of his painting, “Golden Gate,” valued at $125 unframed. Salituri's Inspirations Gallery and Frame Shop will donate framing on the painting, for a total value of $400.
Salituri said the opening bid for her painting in the silent auction is $85; tickets for the raffle to win Clarke's lithograph will cost $5 each or five tickets for $20.
Tickets go on sale and silent auction bids open on April 1, said Salituri, with Kathy Fowler, a member of the Lake Family Resource Center Board of Directors, scheduled to draw the winning raffle ticket on June 1.
After the June 1 event, Salituri said she will open bids for the next silent auction and begin offering tickets for a new raffle, which will be held later in the summer.
Tickets will be available at Inspirations Gallery, 165 N. Main St., Lakeport; Lake Family Resource Center, 896 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport; and the Lakeport Chamber of Commerce, 875 Lakeport Blvd.
Those interested in the fund also can visit Salituri's Web page, www.gailsalituri.com/Memorial.html.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Paul Frindt
The new president will be Gayle Christian, who was chosen on the third ballot after two ties with the other candidate, Flo Kinder.
The new Board of Directors will be composed of Mark Currier, Sonja Madden Jones, Win Cary and Gary Pickrell. The newly elected officers will all serve for the next year.
Also at the meeting was a brief presentation from Steve Finch, who is organizing training for volunteers to form a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a three-and-a-half-day training session to be conducted in Spring Valley.
Finch pointed out that in case of disaster there is a good chance that Spring Valley, which has only one paved road in and out, could be isolated, and residents would need to rely on one another.
Any valley residents interested in getting involved in CERT should call Steve Finch at 263-1090, Extension 263.
Of note was an announcement that there is now a Web site dedicated to Spring Valley, www.springvalleyhome.com.
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