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SONOMA COUNTY – A man who allegedly kept a woman captive at his home while he sexually assaulted her has been charged with eight felony counts.
Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said that on Monday John Manuel Negrete-Gomez, 40, of Santa Rosa, pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts involving the sexual assault of a woman whom he had kept captive in his trailer by tethering her ankle with a cable mounted to the floor of his trailer bedroom.
Negrete-Gomez is charged with three counts of oral copulation by force, one count of penetration with a foreign object by force, one count of false imprisonment, one count of criminal threats, one count of possession of a controlled substance for sale, and one count of possession of a controlled substance.
The acts allegedly occurred between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies rescued a woman who said she was tied up, beaten and sexually assaulted for three days in a south Santa Rosa mobile home park until she managed to call for help.
When deputies entered the bedroom of the trailer, where Negrete-Gomez lived, they found a 40-year-old woman, tethered at her ankle to a bolt in the floor, pleading for help, Passalacqua's office reported.
Detectives obtained a search warrant to collect potential evidence at the residence and also located evidence of sales of methamphetamine as well as various pills.
Negrete-Gomez is being held at the Sonoma County Jail. Bail has been set at $2.1 million. The case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 29.
Deputy District Attorney Dan Cohan is the prosecutor assigned to the case. Sonoma County Sheriff’s Detective Jake Vivian is the lead detective.
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KELSEYVILLE – Authorities are searching for a man who they say allegedly took several bottles of prescription painkiller at knifepoint from a local pharmacy on Saturday.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to Kelseyville Pharmacy on Main Street at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday in response to the report of an armed robbery.
When contacted by Lake County News on Monday, a Kelseyville Pharmacy staffer said a supervisor was not available to speak about the alleged incident.
Pharmacy employees told deputies that a man walked into the store at about 9:25 a.m. Saturday with a kitchen knife in his hand, Bauman said.
When the three employees realized the man was armed, Bauman said they immediately ran for an exit door leading into the pharmacy's back parking lot, with two of them making it out.
However, the suspect cornered one of the women before she could get to the door and demanded she give him some OxyContin, Bauman said.
Bauman said the woman gave the suspect several bottles of OxyContin and as she was looking for more he fled out of the pharmacy and continued on foot towards the Main Street bridge, which spans Kelsey Creek.
None of the employees were injured during the alleged robbery, Bauman said.
Witnesses told Lake County News that in the hours following the incident deputies searched downtown Kelseyville – questioning visitors and business owners in the area and performing a search of the creek.
Bauman said deputies searched the area for several hours but didn't find the man.
He said witnesses described the suspect as a white male adult, unknown age, at least 6 feet tall, weighing 170 to 220 pounds, and wearing white or gray sweatpants, a gray hooded sweatshirt, a black “puffy” jacket over the sweatshirt and a red bandana over his face.
Bauman asked that anyone with information about the alleged robbery and the suspect's possible identify call the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit at 707-262-4200.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE – A Clearlake home suffered major damage Saturday due to a structure fire.
The fire occurred at an older, stick-built residence located at 3759 Buckeye St.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene shortly before 11 p.m.
Lake County Fire Protection District firefighters, with assistance from Cal Fire, arrived on scene within five minutes of the call to find that the home was about 60- to 75-percent involved, said Lake County Fire Protection Battalion Chief Willie Sapeta.
Sapeta said 18 firefighters, along a Lake County Fire Protection engine, a water tender, two medic units, a battalion chief and one Cal Fire engine responded.
“We had the fire controlled in about 20 minutes,” he said, adding that the fire was confined to the residence and didn't damage any other structures nearby.
The blaze was an accident, which Sapeta said was triggered by a grease fire that rapidly involved the entire kitchen.
Damage spread to about 75 percent of the residence, he said.
The home's two residents escaped uninjured with three of their cats, although Sapeta said they lost a fourth cat in the fire.
Overhaul and salvage at the site kept firefighters on scene until about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, he said.
The Red Cross arranged for temporary housing for the home's occupants because of the damage resulting from the fire, Sapeta said.
Sapeta estimated the damage to the home to be between $60,000 and $80,000.
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More than 100 aftershocks have reportedly hit the country in the wake of Saturday's earthquake, tsunamis were triggered and more than 700 people are reported dead, with more casualties expected, according to media reports.
Groups like the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Operation USA are fundraising to assist the country.
On Monday, US Ambassador to Chile Paul Simons reported that the Chilean government indicated that it was open to receive offers of assistance from the international community.
According to the Mobile Giving Foundation, the following organizations are taking donations for Chile through mobile giving:
Text the word “CHILE” to 20222 to donate $10 on behalf of World Vision;
Text the word “CHILE” to 52000 to donate $10 on behalf of the Salvation Army;
Text the word “SAVE” to 20222 to donate $10 on behalf of Save the Children Federation Inc.;
Text the word “CHILE” to 85944 to donate $10 on behalf of International Medical Corp.;
Text the word "4CHILE" to 50555 to donate $10 on behalf of Convoy of Hope;
Text the word "CHILE" to 50555 to donate $10 on behalf of Friends of the World Program;
Text the word "REBUILD" to 50555 to donate $10 on behalf of Friends of the Operation USA.
The American Red Cross, which made an initial commitment of $50,000 to Chilean relief, is accepting donations at its Web site, www.redcross.org.
Simons reported that the US Embassy activated a consular operations center in an effort locate the 18,000 Americans residing around Chile, and about 1,000 living in the Concepcion area.
He said that, as of Monday, “we do not have any reports of any American citizens who have died or had any serious injuries.”
Simons said the situation in Santiago, Chile's capital, “is returning to normal fairly quickly,” with electricity and water being restored to most of the city.
“But the Concepcion area, the Maule area, were hit very, very, very hard, and the situation there is quite precarious,” he said. “And that really will be the focus of our efforts in the coming days in terms of American citizen work.”
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David C. Peters, 29, was arrested for inflicting injury upon a cohabitant, in this case the 29-year-old woman who shares his home on Highway 162 in Covelo.
Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that deputies responded to the home at 4 p.m. Sunday on the report of domestic violence and found the alleged victim at a friend's home.
Deputies observed visible swelling and bruising to the left side of the victim's face. Smallcomb said she also was bleeding from an injury to her left elbow and a laceration on the side of her neck.
She told deputies that the injuries resulted from an assault committed by Peters, who she reported struck her four times with his closed fist, according to the report.
Smallcomb said the woman lost consciousness as a result of the assault, and was later transported to Howard Hospital by a friend where she was treated and released that same evening.
Peters was arrested later that evening by deputies, who followed Peters' dog from his yard to a hiding place in a wooded area behind the home, Smallcomb said.
He added that Peters was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked on a charge of inflicting injury on a spouse or cohabitant.
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