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REDWOOD VALLEY, Calif. – A 6-year-old girl helped authorities locate a man with Alzheimer’s who had gone missing from his home on Tuesday.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Lt. James Van Hagen said young Natalie Wildberger helped bring the story to a happy conclusion thanks to her alertness.
At 3:40 p.m. Tuesday Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Walnut Lane in Redwood Valley regarding an elderly missing adult, Van Hagen said.
When they arrived at the scene deputies learned that an 86-year-old male with Alzheimer’s had gone for a walk with his dog and was possibly missing or lost, according to Van Hagen.
Approximately one hour after the man left his dog returned home without him. Van Hagen said family members searched the immediate area and when they were unable to locate the man they called the sheriff’s office. Deputies then called Redwood Valley Fire Department and Ukiah Ambulance to assist.
While deputies were searching the area they were advised the missing man may have been located on Road “A.” Van Hagen said sheriff’s deputies, Redwood Valley Fire and Ukiah Ambulance responded to the Road A location and found the subject stuck in some brush.
While at the Road A location deputies learned that Natalie Wildberger was outside playing when she heard noises coming from the brush, Van Hagen said.
Natalie said she continued to listen and thought she heard someone calling for help. Van Hagen said Natalie then went and got her father and they both found the missing man on the other side of a fence, stuck in the brush.
Van Hagen said Redwood Valley Fire and Ukiah Ambulance removed the man from the brush and transported him to Ukiah Valley Medical Center for further observation.
“The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank Natalie for a job well done,” Van Hagen said.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly hit his roommate with a hatchet and then stabbed him with a knife during an early morning argument.
Ronald Babb, 63, was arrested for allegedly assaulting roommate Richard Kee, 45, according to Sgt. Dominic Ramirez of the Clearlake Police Department.
Ramirez said that at approximately 4:24 a.m. Wednesday Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to 3717 Koloko St. for a report of an assault victim.
When the officers arrived, they contacted Babb and Kee, who Ramirez said both live at the home.
During the investigation it was discovered that a verbal altercation took place between the two men, with Babb allegedly striking Kee with a hatchet in the head twice, causing moderate injuries, according to Ramirez.
Ramirez said Kee left the residence, however, he later returned and the argument continued. At that point, Babb allegedly stabbed Kee in the stomach with a knife.
Police arrested Babb for assault with a deadly weapon and booked him at the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on $25,000 bail, Ramirez said.
Ramirez said Kee was flown out of county for medical treatment. He was listed in stable condition and later released.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call Officer Thompson at the Clearlake Police Department, 707-994-8251.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two sales tax measures placed on the ballot to address local needs fell short of the necessary percentages on Tuesday while a local fire district successfully passed a measure to increase its appropriations.
Measure E, a half-cent countywide sales tax that was to have been devoted to improving the condition of Clear Lake, and Measure G, a one-cent tax put before Clearlake’s voters as a way of improving road and code enforcement conditions, needed to each pass by 66 percent super majorities.
According to the last report posted by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office late Tuesday, with 69 of 70 precincts reporting, Measure E had a 62.2 percent “yes” vote, or 9,720 ballots, to 5,900 “no” votes, or 37.8 percent.
With eight of nine precincts reporting, Measure G had “yes” votes totaling 1,497 ballots or 61.1 percent, to 952 “no” votes, accounting for a 38.9 percent return.
In the Middletown area, the South Lake County Fire Protection District’s Measure F, meant to increase the district’s appropriations limit, easily won the simple majority vote it needed, with 2,027 “yes” votes, or 64.3 percent, to 1,126 “no” votes, or 35.7 percent.
All 15 precincts had reported for Measure F late Tuesday.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The races to represent Lake County in the U.S. House of Representatives and the California Assembly were decided by wide margins on Tuesday night.
Congressman Mike Thompson and John Garamendi won the races for the Fifth and Third Congressional districts, respectively, while Mariko Yamada took the victory for the Fourth Assembly District.
Thompson previously had represented all of Lake County. However, redistricting resulted in the new Fifth District covering the southern part of Lake County as well as all or parts of Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Contra Costa counties.
With 91 percent of the vote counted early Wednesday morning, Thompson led the race with 74 percent of the vote to Republican challenger Randy Loftin’s 26 percent, the California Secretary of State’s Office reported.
Thompson said Tuesday night that he was honored by the overwhelming show of support he received throughout the district.
“With the election behind us, it is time to move forward – not divided as Republicans and Democrats, but united as Americans – with the common purpose of building a stronger nation where hard work is rewarded and everyone has a fair shot at success,” Thompson said.
He promised to “continue working with people on both sides of the aisle to make sure that if folks work hard and play by the rules, then they will have the opportunity to put food on the table, gas in their car, buy a home, send their kids to college and put some money away for retirement.”
Garamendi and Colusa County Supervisor Kim Vann had been engaged in a tough race for the Third Congressional District, which was redrawn to cover the northern part of Lake County as well as all or parts of Colusa, Glenn, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.
With 88 percent of the vote in early Wednesday, Garamendi led with 53.1 percent of the vote to Vann’s 46.9 percent, the Secretary of State’s Office said.
In the Fourth District Assembly race, as of 1:30 a.m., with 90 percent of the precincts reporting, Yamada led the Assembly race with 60.8 percent compared to Republican challenger John Munn’s 39.2 percent, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, who has long represented Lake County in the state Legislature, now represents the Assembly’s Second District, which is farther up the North Coast. He beat Democrat Tom Lynch Tuesday night.
In the statewide race for U.S. Senate, with 75 percent of the precincts counted, the Secretary of State’s Office reported that Dianne Feinstein led with 60.5 percent of the vote to Republican Elizabeth Emken’s 39.5 percent.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two motorcycle crashes in different parts of the county on Tuesday were reported to have resulted in major injuries.
The crashes occurred in the Lucerne and Loch Lomond areas, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The first crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m. in the 6900 block of Laurel Del Drive, CHP said.
CHP Officer Joe Wind said 22-year-old Lucerne resident Joseph Valencia was riding a mini bike toward Highway 20 when, while turning the bike, he was thrown off of it.
Valencia broke his leg and was transported to a local hospital by Northshore Fire Protection District ambulance, Wind said.
Wind said Valencia was wearing a helmet, but the mini bike was not street legal.
Later in the day, CHP and firefighters responded to another solo motorcycle crash in the area of Highway 175 and Arroyo Vista Road.
Wind said CHP was dispatched to the call at 4:16 p.m.
A male motorcyclist, whose name Wind did not have Tuesday evening, hit gravel and went down on the roadway.
The man suffered pain to his hip and some road rash, and may have had a head injury, according to reports from the scene.
Wind said the man was flown to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa County.
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SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. – A Santa Rosa man who embezzled $125,000 from the Oakmont Golf Club pro shop has entered no contest pleas in the case.
Ryan Drucker Andress, 31, pleaded no contest to two felonies, grand theft and possessing stolen property, and admitted the charged sentencing enhancement of embezzling more than $65,000, according to a report from Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch.
“We are working with law enforcement to hold the offenders in these employee embezzlement cases accountable,” said Ravitch. “We encourage businesses to review existing auditing controls to ensure proper asset protection and account compliance to protect themselves from these cunning schemes.”
Immediately after being promoted to golf operations manager, Andress devised a scheme within the internal electronic accounting controls to systematically reverse legitimate cash and credit card golf shop purchases, Ravitch reported.
The investigation revealed that Andress would then use the business' accounting software to debit the revenue onto an Oakmont Gift Card. Andress then used the gift card to purchase golf equipment from the golf shop to be later sold via his personal account on eBay.
The scheme provided him the appearance of increased golf shop sales under his management, all while he was personally profiting from the theft and eBay sales, Ravitch said.
She said the embezzlement continued for approximately 14 months and was only discovered when another manager questioned one of the reversed transactions.
Ravitch said Andress will be sentenced on Jan. 10, 2013, before the Honorable Judge Conger in Department Seven.
He will receive a stipulated 12 months county jail sentence with a probation period of three years upon his release. Ravitch said Andress also is ordered by the court to provide a partial restitution check made payable to Oakmont Golf Club in the amount of $50,000 on his sentencing date or risk the maximum penalty under his pleas of 4 years, 8 months in state prison.
The case was investigated by Santa Rosa Police Detective Joe Bjornstrom and prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Bill Brockley.