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The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that the incident occurred at Savings Bank of Mendocino County on Highway 101 in Hopland shortly before 3 p.m.
Authorities were alerted by a 911 call reporting the bank robbery.
When deputies arrived witnesses told them that the suspect – a white male adult – had fled in a vehicle, which witnesses described, according to the sheriff's report.
Deputies and Ukiah Police, along with the California Highway Patrol, searched the area for the vehicle, with CHP stopping a vehicle that matched the description at about 3:30 p.m.
Officials said the vehicle's single male occupant was detained and witnesses identified him as the person who allegedly robbed the bank. Evidence found in the car is alleged to have confirmed his involvement in the robbery.
The suspect, who was arrested at the scene, was not identified by officials on Wednesday.
Sheriff's officials said an investigation into the suspect's possible involvement in other robberies currently is under way.
The Lake County Roads Department reported that the road was closed to all traffic at the Lake and Napa County lines.
The California Highway Patrol reported that a large dump truck went down an embankment and was blocking the westbound lane just after 2 p.m.
A subject believed to be the driver was reported to be walking around. Cal Fire stated that the driver needed to be transported.
Cal Fire advised that a big rig was needed to help clear the scene. Lake County Road Department crews were en route to the scene to assist with clearing the roads.
The road was later reopened.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Voters rejected the financial package by wide margins. The only proposition to pass was 1F, which would prevent certain elected officials from receiving salary increases during years when the state has a deficit.
Lake County voters closely mirrored the overall state results. With all 27 precincts reporting, Lake County voters said no to Propositions 1A through 1E, but approved Proposition 1F.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley's office reported that of the 33,010 registered voters, 9,746 – or 29.5 percent – case votes in Tuesday's special election.
Of that total, 11 percent, or 3,626 ballots, were cast at precincts, with 6,120, or 18.5 percent, cast by absentee.
Absentee, or vote by mail, voters have grown to account for about half of the county's registered voters, as Lake County News has reported.
Fridley reported that her office started processing absentee ballots last Friday. The official canvass will begin Wednesday and will continue daily – with the exception of weekends and the holiday – until completed.
The local and state results for the special election ballot measures are as follows, according to the Registrar of Voters office and the office of California Secretary of State Debra Bowen.
Proposition 1A: “Rainy Day” Stabilization Fund
Lake County
Yes 3,259 33.7%
No 6,399 66.3%
California
Yes 1,327,400 34.1 %
No 2,555,519 65.9 %
Proposition 1B: Education Fund Payment Plan
Lake County
Yes 3,586 37.2%
No 6,063 62.8%
California
Yes 1,452,535 37.4%
No 2,421,906 62.6%
Proposition 1C: Lottery Modernization Act
Lake County
Yes 3,384 35.0%
No 6,271 65.0%
California
Yes 1,368,222 35.4%
No 2,493,770 64.6%
Proposition 1D: Children's Services Funding
Lake County
Yes 3,121 32.4%
No 6,514 67.6%
California
Yes 1,324,252 34.2%
No 2,536,657 65.8%
Proposition 1E: Mental Health Fund Temporary Reallocation
Lake County
Yes 2,953 31.1%
No 6,557 68.9%
California
Yes 1,292,437 33.6%
No 2,549,361 66.4%
Prop 1F: Elected Officials' Salaries
Lake County
Yes 7,192 75.3%
No 2,358 24.7%
California
Yes 2,859,122 73.9%
No 1,010,457 26.1%
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. in the gymnasium at the Ukiah campus.
The following is the list of Lake County graduates with the following notations: H1 – with Honors; H2 – Dean’s List; H3 – President’s List; H4 – Highest Honors; PTK – PTK membership.
Hidden Valley Lake:
Bradley Finley: AA, Liberal Arts; AA General Studies
Erica S. Park: AS, Registered Nurse
Chantal Stanton: AS, Registered Nurse
Finley:
Letitia Garcia: AS, Child Development/ Family Relations
Kelseyville:
Adriana G. Arroyo: AA, Liberal Arts
Timothy Boyd: Cert, Business - Management
Btaka T. Brown: AS, Administration of Justice
Margaret Catterton: AA, General Studies
Diana R. Dixon: AS, Business - Management
Meagan Duncan: AA, General Studies
Johnie W. Finch: AS, Automotive Technology; Cert, Automotive Technician; Cert, Automotive Chassis Specialist; Cert, Automotive Tune-Up and Electronics Specialist
Jennifer J. Gentry: AS, Registered Nurse
Tammy L. Hamil: AA, Psychology
Mitchell Higley: AS, Administration of Justice
Jose O. Jimenez: AA, Liberal Arts
Hollie Johnson: AA, Liberal Arts
Michael A. Jonsen: PTK; AA, Psychology
Tracy Klein: AS, Business – Management; AS, Business - Accounting
Joshua Lauderdale: PTK; AA ,Liberal Arts
Andrea I. Lewis: AA, Liberal Arts
Monica Martinez: AS, Business - Administration
Maria Del Rosario Medina: AS, Child Development/ Family Relations
Raylene Morin: AA, General Studies
Carla Mottor: Cert, Child Development
Monique Redding: AS, LVN to RN Career Ladder
Megann Rubash: AA, Liberal Arts
Lakeport:
Jenny Allen: AA, Liberal Arts
Lori Bacci: Cert, Business Office Technology - Medical Billing/ Coding
Jenean N. Ballard: AA, Liberal Arts
Melissa Borg: H1; AS, Child Development/ Family Relations
Quincey-Kaye J. Bourgeois-Butler: PTK; AA, Liberal Arts
Jennifer K. Carley: AS, Mathematics
Rebecca Combs: AA, General Studies
Maria Del Rosario Damas: PTK; AS, Mathematics
Carlos David De Luna: AS, Business – Management; AS, Business – Accounting; Cert, Business - Management
Nikol K. Deccanier: AA, Liberal Arts
Isaac F. Eaquinto: H2; PTK; AA, Liberal Arts
Susanna De Angelo Fraser: AA, General Studies
Georgina M. Guardado: AS, Administration of Justice
Linda J. King: PTK; AS, Registered Nurse AA General Studies
Mark Leon: AA, Liberal Arts
Daniel S. LoDolce: H1; AS, Business - Administration
Amanda Lyons: AA, General Studies
Patrick W. Mick: AA, Social Science
Nicole M. Reimers: H1; Cert, Business – Management; AS, Business – Management; AS, Business - Accounting
Refugio Rosas: AA, Liberal Arts
Molly C. Ryan: AA, Social Science
Pamela J. Salsedo: AS, Business – Management; AS, Business - Administration
Michael D. Swartz: AS; Computer and Information Sciences; AA, Liberal Arts
Ashton Vagnone: AA, Liberal Arts
Breanne Vanlanen: AA, General Studies
Lower Lake:
Axel R. Zijderveld: AS, Administration of Justice
Wynton C. Zijderveld: AS, Fire Science
Lucerne:
Timothy Matlack: AS, Business Administration
Melody N. Shepherd: AA, Liberal Arts
Middletown:
Nicolas A. LaVelle: H1; AS, Administration of Justice
Nice:
Debra A. Gardner: H2; AA, Liberal Arts AA Social Science
Luke Gardner: H3; AA, Social Science AA Liberal Arts
Megan M. Gardner: H3; AA, Social Science; AA, Liberal Arts
Jessica Lane: AS, Child Development/ Family Relations
Kimberly R. Marcks: AA, General Studies
Terri J. Rave: AS, Business - Management
Upper Lake:
Christina D. Birge: AS, LVN to RN Career Ladder
Robin L. Boke: AS, Child Development/ Family Relations
Roy McCutcheon: AS Computer and Information Applications
Cecil White: AA Liberal Arts
Local historian Donna J Howard reported that Lake County was formerly known as the Hot Springs sector of Napa County.
According to the “History of Napa and Lake County 1881,” Lake County was formed on May 20, 1861, by adding some land in the northwest from Mendocino County and some from the northeast of Colusa County.
The act organizing the county of Lake was approved by the Governor of California.
After the county government was organized, Lakeport was chosen as the county seat and a courthouse was erected, according to the 1881 history.
Lake County will celebrate its sesquicentennial – the 150th anniversary of its formation – in 2011.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
LAKEPORT – The trial date for a Carmichael man accused of vehicular manslaughter and boating under the influence in connection with a fatal 2006 sailboat crash has been moved.
Bismarck Dinius, 40, was scheduled to go on trial beginning on Tuesday, but visiting Judge J. Michael Byrne granted a delay in the trial date, which now is tentatively scheduled for June 30.
However, there's a possibility that the trial may not even take place then.
Deputy District Attorney John Langan told the court on Tuesday that he is concerned that his investigators may not be able to complete in-depth followup on new information in the case, as well as researching 911 calls regarding the crash that have since been purged.
He's asked for a June 12 setting date, at which time he said he might ask to dismiss the case.
“It's a possibility given the amount of investigation that we believe we would need to ethically do now before presenting a trial that would be fair to both sides,” said Langan.
“What I don't want to have happen is for us to try to rush this and do a sloppy job,” he said.
Dinius, who was present in court on Tuesday, is being tried for the April 29, 2006, crash in which Willows resident Lynn Thornton was mortally injured.
He was at the tiller of a sailboat owned by Thornton's fiancé, Mark Weber, when it was hit by a powerboat driven by Russell Perdock, an off-duty chief deputy with the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Langan had requested a new trial date, telling the court that his investigators need to look into new information about Perdock's activities before the crash.
They're also looking into statements from former Lake County sheriff's sergeant and current deputy Mike Morshed regarding an order that he gave to former sheriff's Sgt. James Beland to not test Perdock with a breathalyzer at the crash scene.
Dinius' defense attorney, Victor Haltom of Sacramento, had pulled a time waiver on May 8, which means the trial couldn't start any later than July 7.
Byrne said he was concerned about continuing the case beyond that statutory limit, considering the age of the case.
The judge also granted a motion from Langan to release Beland's personnel records.
Judge looks first at motion seeking personnel records
The morning hearing took place in two parts, beginning with Langan presenting his Pitchess motion for Beland's records, since Byrne pointed out that Langan's motion to continue counted on the records request.
Pointing to differences in federal and state approaches to releasing peace officers' records, Langan said he recognized it was a difficult question for the court.
He said it was a “unique and interesting” position he was in, because he had a duty to try to get the records because of what they might mean for the case.
Part of Beland's records – a 35-page transcript from an internal affairs investigation interview last June – were released by his attorney, Scott Lewis of Santa Rosa, to Haltom, who in turn included them in his opposition to a gag order Langan had filed earlier this month, as Lake County News has reported.
In one of Langan's latest filings on the case, discussing his Pitchess motion, he also had attached the transcript, which detailed an interview with Beland before he was terminated last year. In it, he stated that he was ordered not to administer the breathalyzer test to Perdock.
Byrne asked Langan what specific parts of Beland's files he wanted. “Are we talking about his total records or are we talking about what led to the termination?”
Langan suggested he wanted records either from May 18, 2008 – the date Beland had a conversation with him, prior to testifying in the preliminary hearing, in which he stated he had been given the order – or from the date of the crash in April 2006 and forward.
Lewis, who called in to the hearing, said he didn't oppose an “in camera” review – which is conducted in private in the judge's chambers – of the records.
He explained that there are two different files – Beland's normal personnel file and a more extensive one connected to the discipline proceeding he's going through now. Throughout that entire investigatory file there are names of many other witnesses.
Byrne suggested he would do an initial in camera review to protect Beland's private rights and privileges.
Deputy County Counsel Ryan Lambert, representing the Lake County Sheriff's Office, said the agency filed its opposition to release the records last week.
Since then, Lambert said he has learned more about the case's records. “Knowing what I know now, Mr. Beland has turned over at least portions of his confidential files,” he said, noting that because of that there is a question of a waiver.
The sheriff's office policy is to respond to Pitchess motions with objections, but Lambert added, “How that comes together with an apparent disclosure by an employee, I'm not prepared to respond to.”
Lambert said he objected to Langan's assertion that he should be able to participate in the in camera review.
He suggested that, since Haltom had access to and is aware of exculpatory information in the case, they should have filed their own Pitchess motion for the material. “There's no reason the district attorney needs to conduct this investigation on their behalf,” Lambert said.
Haltom stated during the hearing that he believed Beland was fired because “he didn't tow the party line.”
“The file will show that, in our opinion, the allegations resulting in him being terminated were trumped up,” said Haltom, asserting that the real reason Beland was fired had more to do with providing information harmful to Perdock and helpful to Dinius.
Byrne said the situation didn't involve the usual principles protecting law enforcement officers' records.
“The credibility of Mr. Perdock is probably the core of the case,” said Byrne.
He said what took place on the lake, the breathalyzer test, Beland and the witnesses are all very important. Byrne said he didn't think there was relevance for personnel records previous to the crash, as he had no indication there was anything in Beland's background beforehand to justify those releases.
Saying he wasn't allowing a fishing expedition, Byrne took an hour to go into his chambers, where he reviewed an inch-thick manila envelope containing Beland's records. He was accompanied by a sheriff's staffer and a court reporter, and said he would have the records sealed afterward.
When court reconvened just after 10:30 a.m., Byrne said he had reviewed the documents and ordered that all the entire investigative reports and interviews by the sheriff's department pertaining to Beland's discipline action be released, with copies provided to both the prosecution and defense by day's end.
District attorney concerned about having enough time for investigation
In presenting his motion to change the trial date, Langan said he will need time to review and investigate Beland's documents.
He also reported that some important evidence – in this case, the 911 calls from April 29, 2006 – are “no longer in existence.”
“We're trying to create a record of the calls,” he said.
He said Beland also will need to be interviewed and new information on Perdock examined. With Haltom pulling the time waiver, the trial can start no later than July 7.
Langan said he wanted to talk to the judge in chambers about the motion to continue. However, Byrne responded, “I've always done this on the record. That's my practice.”
Haltom said that the request to delay the trial has to be based on the prosecution exercising due diligence. If the calls were germane, he asked, why weren't they examined three years ago?
The prosecution wanted to examine information both about Perdock and Beland, with all of that evidence being helpful only to the defense, said Haltom.
He objected to delaying the trial any longer. “We're ready to go.”
Haltom also questioned why, earlier on Tuesday, he had received 110 new pages of discovery material from the District Attorney's Office.
“I'm pretty troubled by it,” he said.
The evidence included a September 2008 report by the District Attorney's Office in which Perdock provided them with an investigative report from a Pleasanton-based private investigation firm, GAB Investigations. The documents included statements from witnesses saying they saw lights on the sailboat. Haltom said the prosecution's whole case is based on the lights not being on.
“Why on earth am I getting this on the day the trial is supposed to start from the DA's Office?” Haltom asked.
Byrne said he saw three factors coming into play regarding the trial date.
First, Lake is a small county and the case has generated a lot of publicity, which means the court will have to spend a lot of time getting a jury panel. They also have the revoking of Dinius' time waiver, which means they have a 60-day period within which to set the trial date. Then there's the new information from Beland's file that Byrne ordered released.
Based on his experience of the case, Byrne said he believed there is much to be revealed that's of interest to both sides, which justified moving the trial within the 60-day period. He said the 911 calls should have been investigated earlier.
“It is a very unusual case, with unusual circumstances, that continues to get unusual,” said Byrne.
Langan, noting that his investigators can't finish their inquiries by July 7, asked for a setting date at least two weeks out from the start of the trial so he make a decision about whether or not they'll be ready to proceed. Byrne gave him the June 12 date, in preparation for the June 30 trial.
Investigating the 911 calls
Langan, who took over prosecuting the case in February of 2008, told Lake County News Tuesday afternoon that he doesn't exactly know what happened to the 911 tapes from the day of the crash.
“I was told there was a significant number of calls that came in,” he said. “For whatever reason, those calls were not preserved.”
What they do have are the 911 calls Perdock made from his cell phone, reporting the crash.
Langan noted that not all of the day's calls pertained to the crash.
“What we are doing is to try to see if we can get records of the origins of those calls,” he said.
That involves tracking down numbers and who they were registered to, which involves a different process for land lines and cell phones. He said he provided some of that information to Haltom Tuesday, and will try to get the rest of the phone call information as soon as possible.
“We have to make the effort,” he said.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said the law requires the sheriff's office to keep the audio recordings of 911 calls for six months.
The sheriff's office's actually keeps them twice that long, said Bauman. The sheriff's Mercom dispatch system automatically purges the audio recording on an ongoing basis every 365 days. So, as of Wednesday, the oldest voice recording in the system would be for May 21, 2008.
Bauman said the sheriff's incident reports will chronologically record comments and calls, but if they get numerous calls about the same incident – such as in the case of a wildland fire or other major situation – not every subsequent call will be logged once response has been dispatched.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at