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The first of the arrests took place last Friday, according to sheriff's Capt. James Bauman.
On Friday morning at about 11:45 a.m. a property owner from the Jerusalem Grade area of Middletown reported his son and some friends had discovered an apparent marijuana grow while hiking on the property the previous evening, Bauman reported.
Deputies met the property owner and were led into a remote canyon where Bauman said they found two water tanks and a small camp with 13 marijuana plants growing in the area.
As the deputies approached the camp, two subjects emerged from the surrounding brush and were immediately detained. The two were identified as 24-year-old Robert Cole Fortin and 24-year-old Brian Adam Abbie, both of Clearlake. Further investigation led deputies to another 37 marijuana plants located near a creek, east of the camp, Bauman said.
Fortin initially told deputies he thought the two were growing the marijuana on his own property but he was unable to prove ownership of any land in the area. Bauman said both men told deputies they had recommendations for medicinal marijuana but only Fortin could produce one and the amount of plants found were determined to be in excess of the legal limit.
Deputies also found evidence of natural water diversion and other destruction of lands caused as a result of the grow, Bauman said.
Both Fortin and Abbie were arrested and booked in the Lake County Jail for felony cultivation of marijuana and misdemeanor trespass charges. Bauman said they have both since been released on bail.
On Saturday, Bauman said deputies served a search warrant for a suspected illegal grow on an undeveloped property in the area Highway 29 and Diener Road in Lower Lake.
Bauman said deputies had actually discovered the 130-plant grow on June 16 when a property owner in that area had reported a suspicious vehicle and possible grow on or near his property. A search warrant was secured in the days that followed, in order for deputies to return and further investigate.
When deputies reentered the grow on Saturday, they located 57-year-old Richard Clayton Stine in one of two travel trailers at a camp site within the grow, Bauman said. Stine told deputies he had been hired off of the street by two Santa Rosa men to tend to the grow and that one of the men owned the property.
Stine possessed a recommendation for medical marijuana, and one was located for the property owner, but both cards were expired and the number of plants in the grow exceeded the legal limit, according to Bauman's report.
Deputies located a total of six gardens on the property and around the camp. A total of 130 marijuana plants were eradicated and several loaded firearms were seized. Bauman said one of the travel trailers and another utility trailer in the camp were reportedly stolen out of Santa Rosa and were also recovered.
Stine was arrested and booked on felony charges of cultivation, sales and possession of marijuana for sale. He also is charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and possession of stolen property. Bauman said Stine has since been bailed out of jail.
On Tuesday, members of the Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), conducted Campaign Against Marijuana Planing (CAMP) eradication operations on multiple illegal grows in a remote area about 8 miles southeast of Lower Lake. Bauman said a contract helicopter was used to insert and extract eradication teams during the operation with a Short Term Airborne Operation (STABO) line.
At about 4 pm, a team of two officers were being lowered by helicopter into one of the gardens when the pilot spotted a subject armed with a rifle jump out of concealment and flee from the garden. Bauman said the pilot inserted the team and while maintaining sight of the fleeing suspect, quickly pulled other teams from nearby grows and placed them in the area to assist with the suspect's apprehension.
After about 20 minutes of tracking the suspect through rugged terrain, deputies confronted him at gunpoint in a creek bed. After several warnings to stop, he dropped his weapon, placed his hands in the air, but then fled again, Bauman reported.
A deputy chased the suspect back up a hill from the creek bed and was able to catch and arrest him after a brief struggle. Bauman said a loaded magazine for the semi-automatic rifle he was carrying was found in one of his pockets, along with other ammunition and some irrigation pieces consistent with maintaining a garden.
Francisco Ornelas Diaz, 22, a reported transient out of Lower Lake, was extracted from the grow by helicopter to a landing zone where he was then transported to the Lake County Jail. Bauman said Diaz was booked on felony charges of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and committing a felony while armed. He is held without bail due to an immigration hold.
A small camp was located in the garden Diaz had fled from and by the end of the day, 887 marijuana plants had been eradicated from that garden alone. Bauman said several other adjacent gardens marked for eradication that day had to be postponed due to Diaz’s arrest.
Bauman said this is the first week of seasonal eradication operations coordinated by the Lake County Sheriff's Office with CAMP and other allied agencies in Lake County.
The number of plants eradicated this week alone is already at 38,000, including 18,000 plants contained in seed beds found on public land in the Boggs Forest area. Bauman said it is anticipated at least 100,000 plants will be eradicated by the end of the week.
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The weather pattern of cool, moisture-laden systems from the Pacific Northwest that have been in place since March and brought high-level afternoon clouds over Lake County earlier this week through Wednesday should dissipate as a higher-pressure system moves in.
Thursday's daytime highs are forecast to reach the mid-80s, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento, with clear and sunny skies.
As the weekend approaches on Friday, the Western Weather Group predicts that temperatures will reach well into the 90s, and continue to climb to the mid- or upper-90s throughout the weekend while remaining sunny and clear.
Overnight lows are expected to be temperate and remain in the upper 50s to low 60s, according to the National Weather Service.
Average daytime highs for this time of year according to the Old Farmers’ Almanac in Lake County should reach the upper 80s – so this weekend is predicted to be hit the average mark.
Currently, another cooler weather system is forecast to move in to Lake County mid-week, bringing back cooler temperatures for the Fourth of July weekend, the Western Weather Group reported.
For up-to-date weather information, please visit the Lake County News home page.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
An infection that's also known as pertussis, the most severe form of whooping cough typically affects young infants, although all age groups can contract it, the Lake County Health Services Department reported this week.
Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait said no pertussis cases have been reported in the county, but she's nonetheless urging people to be vaccinated.
Mendocino County health officials also reported no cases of the infection so far in their area.
The California Department of Public Health reported that pertussis case numbers tend to peak every two to three years, with the greatest number occurring between August and September. The last peak was in 2005.
Over the past decade, the disease has led to the deaths of between three and four infants under the age of 3 months in California each year, the state reported. The babies likeliest to die from pertussis are those who have not had any immunizations and whose airways are not fully developed.
So far this year there has been a four-fold increase in pertussis cases as compared to the same time in 2009, Tait said.
Five babies in California have died this year because of pertussis and 900 cases have been reported across the the state, according to a report from Dr. John Talarico, who heads the immunizations branch of the infectious disease center within the State Department of Public Health.
Health officials explained that the germ that causes whooping cough is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
It's highly contagious, and the California Department of Public Health said that studies show that half of the infants with pertussis are infected by their parents, particularly their mothers, which is one reason for encouraging parents and caregivers to be vaccinated.
Infants with the infection will show symptoms beginning with a runny nose and low-grade fever, which later progresses into bursts of cough accompanied by a high-pitched “whoop.” Tait reported that the cough can be so severe that it may lead to vomiting and severe respiratory distress.
Tait said it's not just children who get the infection. All age groups are susceptible, and immunity resulting from childhood vaccination may begin to wear off as early as age 10 years.
In older age groups, the symptoms are less characteristic, but Tait said pertussis should be suspected in anyone who has a recent-onset cough that lasts two weeks or longer. The cough can persist for many weeks, even after the person is no longer contagious, she added.
Pertussis is the most common vaccine-preventable diseases, the state reported.
“Pertussis is a preventable disease that still occurs because too often we don’t address the need for re-vaccination beyond the early childhood years,” said Tait. “In addition, the diagnosis is missed in the older age groups because people don’t think about the possibility of pertussis.”
She said babies are routinely vaccinated at ages 2, 4 and 6 months; between 15 and 18 months; and again between 4 and 6 years of age.
Tait explained that it takes time for the protection to build, so it is important for older children and adults to be vaccinated in order to create a “cocoon” of protection around young infants that they contact.
Because immunizations don't offer permanent protection, Tait recommends that – in addition to the five doses of pertussis vaccine recommended before kindergarten – starting at age 11 children receive Tdap – a vaccine that protects against a combination of pertussis, tetanus and diphtheria. Tdap should be given every 10 years.
Anyone who will have close contact with infants also should have the Tdap booster, Tait said.
When respiratory symptoms occur – such as a new cough in older children and adults that lasts longer than two weeks – Tait urges people to consider the possibility that it might be pertussis. A doctor should be seen quickly if a sick person has come in contact with infants.
She said early diagnosis and treatment can prevent serious illness and can result in measures to control the spread of infection.
Pertussis is treatable with antibiotics when given early in the illness. Under some circumstances, antibiotics are sometimes also given to exposed persons in order to prevent infection. The best prevention, however, is vaccination, Tait said.
Tait said pertussis is an infection that must be reported by health care providers to local public health
authorities.
She said she has been informing local health care providers of the status of pertussis cases in California and current recommendations for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
To prevent contracting the infection, Tait urges people to keep sick children home from daycare, and to stay away from infants and young children if you're sick.
To get vaccinated, Tait said residents should see their doctor or contact Lake County Public Health at 707-263-1090 or 800-794-9291.
For more information about pertussis, see www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Pertussis.aspx or www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/pertussis_t.htm.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
THIS QUAKE ORIGINALLY WAS RATED AS 3.3 IN MAGNITUDE, BUT HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED TO 3.2.
THE GEYSERS – A 3.2-magnitude earthquake shook The Geysers area on Tuesday.
The quake occurred at 2:42 p.m. Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey.
It was recorded at a depth of 1.4 miles three miles north northwest of The Geysers, six miles west of Cobb and eight miles west northwest of Anderson Springs, US Geological Survey data showed.
Quakes of 3.0 magnitude and above receive special cataloging status from the US Geological Survey, as previously reported by Lake County News.
Ten shake reports were received from six zip codes. Areas where reports came from included Cloverdale, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Hidden Valley Lake, Redding and Hanford – the latter a distance of 400 miles away from the epicenter, the survey reported.
Four aftershocks that were centered close to the epicenter of the 3.3-magnitude quake and ranging between 1.1 and 1.5 in magnitude followed the larger quake over a two-hour period, the US Geological Survey reported.
A 3.1-magnitude earthquake also was reported in Central California near Hollister at 12:23 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey, which was reportedly felt as far north as Windsor, in Sonoma County.
A 3.7-magnitude earthquake was reported June 15 two miles east of The Geysers, as Lake County News has reported.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
THE ARTICLE HAS BEEN CORRECTED; IT ORIGINALLY REPORTED THE VEHICLE AS A TRUCK, HOWEVER WITNESSES SAID IT WAS A JEEP. THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS ALSO HAS BEEN CORRECTED, FROM TWO TO FOUR.
KELSEYVILLE – A solo vehicle collision Tuesday afternoon resulted in major injuries.
The crash occurred just after 2 p.m. on Soda Bay Road near Madrone, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A red Jeep crashed and four subjects were reportedly involved, according to witnesses.
A witness reported that one of the injured was being airlifted from the golf course at Buckingham.
The county roads department also was called in to deal with several gallons of oil reported in the road, according to the CHP.
Additional details were not available from the CHP on Tuesday.
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LUCERNE – A motorcyclist was injured in a Tuesday evening crash in Lucerne.
The crash occurred shortly after 5 p.m. in a two-way turn lane on Highway 20 near 11th Street, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters and the CHP were on scene, with the CHP reporting that the rider suffered minor injuries.
It was not immediately clear if another vehicle was involved, based on the preliminary CHP report.
Additional details about the incident and the identity of the motorcyclist weren't available late Tuesday.
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