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LUCERNE, Calif. – A Clearlake man who allegedly fled the scene of a Thursday evening crash in which his passenger was injured has been arrested.
Xavier Pina, 37, was arrested on felony charges of driving under the influence, hit and run causing injury and fleeing the scene of a collision, according to Officer Kory Reynolds of the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.
At 6:50 p.m. Thursday Pina was driving his 2006 Chevrolet Colorado pickup eastbound on Highway 20 near Foothill Drive in Lucerne at an undetermined speed when, for unknown reasons, Pina lost control of his vehicle, which overturned, Reynolds said.
The vehicle came to rest on its side in the eastbound lane, blocking traffic, according to Reynolds.
Pina’s passenger, John Talavera, 55, of Lower Lake was located at the scene and was transported by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with major injuries including a fractured neck, major internal injuries and a severed right index finger, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Pina fled the scene on foot and was located near the east end of Lucerne.
Pina was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and was treated for lacerations and a possible fractured left collar bone, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Pina later was arrested and booked at the Lake County Jail. Jail records showed he was arrested at 2:20 a.m. Friday and booked just after 6 a.m.
Pina's bail has been set at $50,000, according to jail records.
At the crash scene one-way traffic control was in effect until approximately 11:40 p.m. Thursday, Reynolds said.
Northshore Fire Protection District and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene, Reynolds said.
The collision is still under investigation by Officer Steven Patrick.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Spring is a good time to add a new pet to your family, especially if you're looking for a fun companion to share the outdoors.
Just such a dog is Dynamite, a 5-year-old female German Shepherd.
She weighs 89 pounds, has been spayed, and has a short brown and black coat.
Dynamite is athletic, loves to play and is very friendly. She's believed to be a purebred, but did not come with papers.
She is in kennel No. 4, ID No. 32513.
Also featured today is a charming 2-year-old female tabby.
The domestic short hair mix is spayed, has gray tabby coloring and weighs 7 pounds.
She is friendly and sociable and would make a great pet.
She is in cat room kennel No. 16, ID No. 32431.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has released an update on the bovine spongiform encephalopathy – or mad cow disease – detection announced earlier this week.
On April 24, USDA confirmed the nation’s fourth case of BSE in an animal that was sampled for the disease at a rendering facility in central California.
This animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States, the agency said.
As a result of USDA’s ongoing epidemiological investigation, more information about the history and age of the animal is now available.
The animal in question was 10 years and 7 months old and came from a dairy farm in Tulare County, Calif.
The animal was humanely euthanized after it developed lameness and became recumbent. The animal’s carcass will be destroyed.
The agency said it is important to reiterate that this animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, did not enter food supply channels and at no time presented any risk to human health.
USDA is continuing its epidemiological investigation and will provide additional information as it is available.
The positive animal was tested as part of targeted BSE surveillance at rendering facilities.
Samples were sent to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory for testing and forwarded to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories on April 20h for confirmatory testing. APHIS announced the confirmed positive finding April 24.
The United States has a longstanding system of three interlocking safeguards against BSE that protects public and animal health in the United States, the most important of which is the removal of specified risk materials – or the parts of an animal that would contain BSE should an animal have the disease – from all animals presented for slaughter in the United States.
The second safeguard is a strong feed ban that protects cattle from the disease.
The third safeguard – which led to this detection – is the ongoing BSE surveillance program that allows USDA to detect the disease if it exists at very low levels in the U.S. cattle population and provides assurances to consumers and international trading partners that the interlocking system of safeguards in place to prevent BSE are working.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will conduct this year’s fifth and final snow survey on May 1.
Manual surveys up and down the state will be combined with electronic readings from remote sensors to indicate the rate at which the mountain snowpack is melting into the state’s streams, reservoirs and aquifers.
The snowpack normally provides about a third of the water for California’s homes, industry and agriculture.
April 2 measurements showed that water content in the winter snowpack – often called California’s frozen reservoir – was only 55 percent of normal at the time of year when it historically is at its peak. On Thursday it was 46 percent of normal.
Above average reservoir storage is the good news for water supply this year, the agency reported.
With Lake Oroville in Butte County – the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir – 93 percent full (113 percent of normal for the date), DWR expects to be able to deliver a not unusually low 60 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of SWP water requested.
DWR will collect manual snowpack water content readings over the next several days.
In the interim, real-time electronic readings indicate that snowpack water content is 76 percent of normal in the northern mountain ranges, 43 percent of normal in the central Sierra, and 26 percent of normal in the southern Sierra. The statewide reading is 46 percent.
Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ .
Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action .
LUCERNE, Calif. – A vehicle crash in Lucerne Thursday evening resulted in one person being flown out to a regional trauma center and traffic being backed up along Highway 20.
The crash occurred just after 7 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20 about a quarter-mile west of Foothill Drive.
A single vehicle was reported to have rolled over, and was lying on its side, according to the California Highway Patrol. Witnesses at the scene said the vehicle was a pickup.
Initially, the crash blocked the eastbound lane of traffic, with radio reports indicating a short time later that the entire highway was blocked due to the crash.
Two people were out of the car when Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters arrived, with radio traffic indicating one of the subjects had suffered major injuries.
The REACH 6 air ambulance was called and arrived at about 7:25 p.m., landing at Lucerne Harbor Park, where a Northshore Fire ambulance had transported the patient, according to radio reports.
Ten minutes later, the helicopter lifted off, en route to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
It was reported that another subject may have been transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital by a private vehicle following the crash.
All firefighters had cleared the scene just after 8 p.m., according to radio reports.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UDPATED WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS FROM THE CLEARLAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Concerns about two suspicious packages led to an investigation at the Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic in Clearlake Thursday, with officials determining that the packages were harmless.
The clinic, located at 15145 Lakeshore Drive, was closed at noon on Thursday in response to the concerns, according to Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen.
The clinic was surrounded with crime scene tape, the building was evacuated and the area cleared, and the road was closed while the investigation took place Thursday afternoon, according to witnesses.
Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said the clinic received the packages through the mail and clinic staff deemed them suspicious because one was making noise.
Clearlake Police, Lake County Fire Protection District and a federal law enforcement official – who was called to the scene due to the clinic being a federal building – responded to investigate, according to Clausen.
It eventually was determined that one of the packages contained a piece of equipment with low batteries and that it as not a danger, Clausen said.
Clausen said the “all clear” was given at around 3:20 p.m.
John Jensen contributed to this report.
Email Elizabeth Larson at