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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A vehicle stop conducted by the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force has resulted in one arrest and the seizure of an ounce of methamphetamine.
Rhae Anne Mills, 45, of Clearlake was arrested as a result of the stop, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
At 9 p.m. Wednesday a narcotics detective noticed a vehicle leaving the Shoreline Shopping Center in Lakeport which was missing the front driver’s side lighting assembly, Brooks said.
Brooks said the detective followed the vehicle, which was traveling southbound on South Main Street. The driver signaled to make a right turn where there was no road to turn onto and then continued traveling in the southbound direction.
As they were approaching K-mart, the driver signaled again and moved to the right side of the road well before it would have been appropriate to make the turn. Based on the lighting violation and driving pattern, the detective conducted an enforcement stop, Brooks said.
The detective contacted the driver, who was identified as Mills. While explaining the reason for the stop, Brooks said the detective noticed Mills was extremely nervous and fidgety. When he asked to see her driver’s license, Mills searched through several wallets and bags in her purse but was unable to locate her license.
When asked, Mills denied being on probation or parole. The detective noticed Mills was visibly shaking and maintained a rapid speech pattern while talking to her. Based on his observations, the detective believed Mills was under the influence of a controlled substance, according to Brooks.
A second detective arrived on scene to assist with the enforcement stop and advised he had previously contacted Mills and knew she was on probation. Mills changed her story and admitted she was on probation with a search clause, Brooks said.
During a search of the vehicle detectives located a small coin purse hidden under the dashboard. Inside the coin purse Brooks said detectives located four plastic bags which contained a white crystalline substance they recognized to be methamphetamine.
One of the bags appeared to contain approximately one ounce of methamphetamine. Brooks said the other three bags contained smaller amounts which appeared to be packaged for sales. All of the methamphetamine was seized as evidence. Detectives also located $627, which was seized pending asset forfeiture proceedings.
Mills was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sale and transportation of a controlled substance. Brooks said she was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.
Mills remained in custody on Friday. Brooks said she was unable to bail due to violating the conditions of her probation.
The methamphetamine was later weighed and determined to have a total combined weight of 33.2 grams. Brooks said detectives estimated the approximate street value to be $3,320 if sold in personal use quantities.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A 3.6-magnitude earthquake occurred Thursday night in Napa County.
The quake was reported at 9:04 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
It was centered five miles east northeast of Yountville, nine miles north of Napa and 14 miles northeast of Sonoma, at a depth of 4.7 miles, the US Geological Survey reported.
The survey received shake reports from around Napa and Sonoma counties, the Bay Area and as far away as Reno, Nev.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce offered its official endorsement of Measure L during its monthly dinner meeting Tuesday at Kour Thai Restaurant in Clearlake.
Chamber Executive Director Joey Luiz said the endorsement was supported unanimously by the chamber board.
Committee to Save the Lake 2014 Chairman Jim Magliulo was in attendance to accept the endorsement, as was committee member Victoria Brandon, who delivered a presentation about the measure to fill the evening's program.
Measure L is a half-cent sales tax imitative to preserve and restore the health of Clear Lake.
It is a specific tax requiring an expenditure plan and citizens' oversight committee. Annual independent audits are to confirm appropriate spending.
“Clear Lake is Lake County's greatest asset, by far,” Brandon said. “With Measure L we have the opportunity to make an investment in Clear Lake and our own future and the future of our children.”
Brandon said Measure L will help reduce the impacts from toxic, foul-smelling algae and nuisance aquatic weeds.
She said the measure will assist in providing a funding source to continue ongoing aquatic weed mitigation programs that currently utilize one-time, special purpose funds.
The expenditure plan, she said, requires funds be spent specifically on water quality programs, aquatic invasive species prevention programs and the Nuisance Aquatic Weeds and Algae program.
She said Measure L will also provide a source for matching funds in new and ongoing projects that support these programs.
One such project, Brandon said, is the Middle Creek Restoration Project, which will help restore wetlands so they can naturally filter and clean the lake as well as improve wildlife habitat.
She said the $6 million project requires a 50-percent match. She said Measure L includes a set-aside plan that could generate as much as $400,000 for the project in the first two years.
“Then there is the Full Circle Project that gets septic off the lake,” Brandon said. “Measure L would provide leverage with money to use as local match for those grants.”
Brandon said Measure L would assist in ongoing prevention efforts to keep invasive species such as quagga and zebra mussels from entering the lake. She said infestation by these invasive species would severely damage the health of the lake and its fishery.
Brandon said there is a sunset clause of 10 years on the measure. “Our hope is in 10 years, we won't need this (tax) and (programs) will be self-sustaining.”
For more information regarding Measure L, visit www.savethelake.info .
Correction: The article originally said Measure L was supported by a unanimous vote of the membership. That sentence has been corrected to state that the vote was of the chamber's board.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The family of a woman who died last fall in a vehicle crash involving a Lake County Sheriff's deputy has filed a lawsuit against the county of Lake, alleging the deputy had alcohol in his system at the time of the wreck.
Santa Rosa attorney Jeremy Fietz filed the wrongful death suit on Tuesday on behalf of his clients, Gloria Garcia Gamino and Jose Daniel Rivas Cruz of Mexico, parents of Gabriela Rivas Garcia of Clearlake.
It names the county of Lake, Deputy Scott Lewis and 20 as-yet unnamed defendants, and seeks general, special and punitive damages, as well as all legal costs.
Garcia, 26, died on Oct. 3 in a head-on crash with Lewis on Highway 29 north of Diener Drive.
She was driving to her job at a vineyard in the Kelseyville area when she was hit by Lewis' 2009 Chevy Tahoe patrol vehicle, which crossed into the path of her 1995 Honda Civic while en route to a report of a home invasion robbery in Lower Lake.
Garcia died at the scene. Lewis suffered severe injuries and was flown to an out-of-county trauma center. Bill Eagleton, a correctional officer who was in another car behind Garcia, had minor injuries after the rear of Lewis' SUV hit the front of his 1997 Geo.
Gamino and Cruz filed a tort claim with the county in January, seeking in excess of $10 million, as Lake County News reported earlier this year.
The county's third party liability administrator, the George Hills Co., denied that claim, County Counsel Anita Grant told Lake County News.
Grant said on Wednesday that the county had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
Fietz said he intended to have the county formally served within the next few days.
New allegations arise from grand jury testimony
The allegations that Lewis had alcohol in his system come from grand jury testimony given in January in the case involving the suspects in the home invasion to which Lewis was responding, according to Fietz.
The grand jury transcript was provided to him by “another interested party,” he said.
Blood work done on Lewis showed that he had “at least” a blood alcohol level of 0.01 percent as of 7:50 a.m., about an hour and a half after the crash and two hours after reporting for duty, the case filing states.
The case alleges that, using “scientifically accepted rates of alcohol absorption,” it can be extrapolated that Lewis had a blood alcohol of 0.04 to 0.05 at the time of the crash.
Fietz said he has not yet gotten the direct blood alcohol test results on Lewis conducted by the California Department of Justice. He said it was an exhibit during the grand jury proceedings.
Citing the Lake County Sheriff's Office's own policy, which he acquired through a Public Records Act request, Fietz pointed out that it is a violation of policy for deputies to report for duty while there is any detectable amount of alcohol in their system.
District Attorney Don Anderson confirmed that Lewis' blood alcohol level being 0.01 came out during the grand jury proceedings.
Fietz questioned why Lewis continued to take part in the pursuit after it was confirmed that two other deputies who were closer – Stephen Wright and William Djernes – were en route.
“Time and time and time again, he made the wrong decision,” Fietz said, suggesting Lewis either didn't want to pull out and have to admit to violating department policy due to his alcohol level, or that he “cowboyed” it and decided to continue due to the thrill of the pursuit.
Fietz said that according to his reading of sheriff's policy, no deputy can ever be disciplined for pulling out of a pursuit due to safety reasons, even if they are the only deputy nearby.
“There was every opportunity for him to avoid this, and that is the real tragedy, this was totally avoidable,” Fietz said.
After the county is served, it will have 30 days to respond, and then Fietz can begin depositions and discovery.
He expects that an initial case management hearing is at least a few months out. “Nothing really substantive is going to happen in that first hearing,” he said, adding he suspects the county will attack the punitive damages aspects of the suit early on.
The suit does not seek a specific amount of damages, which Fietz said is up to the jury to decide.
He said he intends to talk to the jury about Garcia's life and her devotion to her parents, to whom she regularly sent money.
The loss of their daughter, he said, will leave a hole in their lives.
Her parents will testify, as will her fiancé of six years, who is not able to file suit due to what Fietz called “antiquated” and unfair California law that doesn’t recognize unmarried partners.
Grant said her office will not handle the lawsuit.
“This is under our tort liability insurance policy,” she said.
As part of that process, the George Hills Co. generally recommends firms available to take such cases.
“The county has input into that, obviously,” Grant said.
She also is authorized by the county to select the firm to take the case.
Collision report pending completion
Anderson said his office is currently working on separate cases related to the crash – the home invasion, the critical incident protocol investigation and an investigation into whether Lewis has criminal negligence.
The January grand jury proceeding that revealed Lewis’ blood alcohol issue led to a murder charge being added to the numerous felonies facing the four Lower Lake home invasion suspects – Clearlake residents James Robert Conaster, Jesse Gilbert Moncivaiz and Angelita Jeanette Raffa, and Lauren Astor Faumuina of Middletown.
Regarding the critical incident protocol investigation and the inquiry into Lewis’ actions, Anderson said he is awaiting the completion of the final report by the California Highway Patrol Northern Division's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, or MAIT.
Anderson said Wednesday that the report – which has been under way since the crash occurred last October – is expected in about a month, and is necessary if he were to pursue a criminal filing.
He said it could then take him a few more months to do followup investigations to complete his findings.
“It’s going to take quite a bit of time to go over the whole thing,” Anderson said.
The MAIT report will reconstruct the crash, determine how it occurred and what was the direct cause, identify mitigating factors and gives Lewis' precise speed at the time of the collision, according to Anderson.
As for the amount of alcohol in Lewis' system, Anderson said he doesn't want to pass any judgments until they get the report.
He said he also will call on the California Department of Justice and medical experts to give input on how much alcohol Lewis may have had in his system at the time of the crash.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake will host a “Meet the Candidates Day” on Monday, April 7.
The event will take place beginning at 10 a.m. in the Running Creek Casino Conference Room, 635 E. Highway 20, Upper Lake.
Community members will be able to meet candidates for county supervisor, sheriff and State Assembly.
For more information call 707-275-9050 or contact the tribal office directly at 275-0737.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Upper Lake area was shaken by a 3.3-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday morning.
The quake occurred at 9:27 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
It was centered nine miles northeast of Upper Lake and 23 miles east northeast of Ukiah, the US Geological Survey reported.
The earthquake was recorded at a very shallow depth, just one-tenth of a mile below the earth's surface, survey records showed.
The survey received shake reports from Nice and Upper Lake, as well as Mill Valley.
Quakes are not often reported in the Upper Lake area, where the last shakers measuring 3.0 or above occurred in 2012, according to US Geological Survey records.
Email Elizabeth Larson at