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KELSEYVILLE – The quick action of three men is being credited with saving additional homes from a fire that destroyed a mobile home Thursday afternoon.
The Walnut Estates Senior Mobile Park on Fifth Street in Kelseyville was the scene of the fire.
Dorothy Pinson, the park's manager, said the fire broke out about 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the home of Norman Wykes, who lived next door to Pinson in space 26.
Wykes was at a neighbor's home when the fire started, said neighbor Lynne Quartarolo.
Pinson said Wykes lost everything but “the clothes on his back,” with the fire killing his two cats as well.
Both Pinson and Quartarolo lauded the neighbors Jon Hanley, Conrad Boehm and Robert Potter for jumping into action and keeping the fire from spreading before Kelseyville Fire arrived.
Hanley, said Pinson, ran out barefoot, grabbed a hose and began watering down the home on the other side of Wykes' mobile, where the wind was starting to blow the fire.
“It was pretty hot,” said Pinson.
So hot, that it cracked the neighboring home's double-pained windows, said Pinson, who added that Hanley's actions helped prevent the mobile from catching fire.
Boehm stood in Pinson's yard with a hose, putting water on Wykes' burning mobile.
“These guys, in my estimation are real heroes,” said Quartarolo.
Kelseyville Fire came on scene and contained the fire. Medical personnel took Hanley to the hospital, where his feet were treated, said Pinson. Other than blistered feet, he's OK.
The Red Cross gave Wykes three nights of lodging at the Skylark Shores Resort in Lakeport, along with vouchers for food at Grocery Outlet and clothes at Kmart. Pinson added that one park resident also is offering Wykes a place to stay.
On Monday, Pinson said she's supposed to pick up a report on the fire's cause. She said authorities indicated there was a 99-percent chance it was accidental, with Wykes believing it may have been caused by a fan he was using.
Pinson said the park had a fire about seven years ago in which a man died. The cause of that fire was believed to be a cigarette, she said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – A Wednesday evening assault that police are calling gang-related left a 14-year-old male seriously injured and another 16-year-old male in jail.
Lt. Brad Rasmussen of the Lakeport Police Department said Thursday that officers were dispatched to the area of 11th and Pool Street at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on the call of an injured male subject.
At the scene, officers found a 14-year-old male – whose name authorities did not release because he is a minor – with a serious head injury, said Rasmussen. Lakeport Fire Department medical units responded and transported the victim to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for treatment.
Investigators established that five to six male subjects – among them a 16-year-old male who is a documented Nortenos street gang member – approached the victim while he was walking down 11th with his brother and some others, said Rasmussen.
The victim and his brother were both wearing blue pants and hats, a color associated with the rival Surenos gang, said Rasmussen.
The group of males, said Rasmussen, suspected the 14-year-old was a gang member and attacked him, hitting him over the head with a large rock.
Lakeport Police went to the residence of the 16-year-old gang member, who Rasmussen said is well known to local law enforcement. “The suspect has an extensive history of gang-related activity in both Sonoma and Lake County,” he added.
Because the teen is currently on probation, officers were able to conduct a search of his home. They arrested him for assault with a deadly weapon, resisting/delaying and obstructing a peace officer, criminal street gang enhancements and violation of probation.
The victim said he didn't know his attackers, Rasmussen reported. The teen isn't a gang member and hadn't had previous contacts with police.
The boy's brother, who police also hadn't had contact with, did admit to being associated with the Angelino Heights gang, a subset of the Surenos, said Rasmussen.
The investigation is continuing, said Rasmussen. “We've got some leads on some other suspects and they are known to us.”
He added, if police can put together a case on anyone else, they will make additional arrests.
Lakeport Police submitted a report on the 16-year-old arrested in the attack to the Juvenile Probation Department Thursday morning, said Rasmussen. That department will then review the case and decide whether to send it to the District Attorney's Office.
“I would suspect that this will be sent to the DA,” said Rasmussen.
Anyone with information regarding the Lakeport assault is asked to contact Officers Jarvis Leishman or Destry Henderson at 263-5491.
Gang assaults look similar
Wednesday's gang-related assault looks strikingly similar to a March assault that took place in Library Park, in front of TNT on the Lake restaurant, said Rasmussen.
In that March 16 incident, 19-year-old Alex Larranaga of Clearlake Oaks was allegedly attacked and stabbed outside of the restaurant by five Lakeport teens, among them known Surenos gang members. Larranaga survived the assault.
Both assaults involved multiple subjects attacking one victim, said Rasmussen.
“The only difference here,” Rasmussen said of Wednesday's assault, “is that they used a rock instead of a knife.”
Police don't believe the similarities translate into the two attacks being related, Rasmussen said.
The Nortenos and Surenos are the two leading gangs in the Lakeport area, said Rasmussen, and are most responsible for gang-related problems.
He added that there are more Surenos than Nortenos around Lakeport.
Rasmussen said that although there have been more gang-related incidents in recent months, police don't believe there are actually more gang members, but that current gang members are becoming more brazen.
“It just shows that they don't have any fear of carrying out their assaults on people, because they'll do it right on a public street or in front of a restaurant,” said Rasmussen.
In the Larranaga case, four of the five suspects – including two teenagers who will stand trial as adults – are due in court for their preliminary hearings later this month, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Ricardo Tapia Muniz, 18; Elias Hernandez, 19; Mathew Domeier, 16; and Juan Yepez, 17, all will be in Superior Court's Department 2 on July 24 to face charges of attempted murder with gang enhancements and aggravated mayhem, which is a lesser charge related to attempted murder, said Hinchcliff. Hernandez and Yepez also face conspiracy charges.
A fifth suspect, a 14-year-old male, faces conspiracy and attempted murder charges with the gang enhancement as well, but isn't being tried as an adult, officials previously reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – While there was a lot of activity going on in the county over the past weekend, leading up through the Fourth of July, overall it appears to have been a safe holiday, with no fatalities on the roads and few driving-under-the-influence arrests.
Officer Adam Garcia of the Clear Lake California Highway Patrol office said Thursday that, as far as safety and arrests, it was a good Fourth.
CHP's DUI checkpoint, held Monday on Highway 20 at Lake Street in Clearlake Oaks, actually yielded no DUI arrests, said Garcia. Officers did give seven driver's license-related citations, and made one arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
Over the entire holiday weekend, CHP logged only two DUI arrests, said Garcia.
In addition, there were zero fatalities, Garcia reported. “That's the big number there.”
Officers didn't notice a more-than-normal number of collisions either, he said.
Jaime Coffee, spokesperson for the CHP's Sacramento headquarters, said that 18 people died in accidents around the state during the CHP's maximum enforcement period, which because of the way the holiday fell this year lasted just over two days, from 6:01 p.m. July 2 to 11:59 p.m. July 4.
Last year's maximum enforcement period stretched over four days, said Coffee. The last time the Fourth of July fell in the middle of the week and there was a maximum enforcement period of the same length was 2001, said Coffee. That year, CHP recorded eight fatalities statewide. This year's numbers, said Coffee, illustrate a significant increase.
DUI arrests across the state totaled 568, with 34 in the CHP's Northern Division, which includes the Clear Lake office, said Coffee.
Of this Fourth of July's 18 fatalities, 13 were within CHP jurisdiction and five were within city jurisdictions, said Coffee. The CHP's Northern Division had a total of two traffic deaths.
In looking at those statistics, Coffee said one thing stood out: use of seat belts.
The 13 fatalities in CHP jurisdiction included two motorcycle deaths and 11 deaths in vehicle accidents, Coffee reported. Of those 11 vehicle fatalities, eight – or 73 percent – of those who died were not wearing seat belts, said Coffee.
“Had they taken that one second to buckle their seat belt, they may have saved their own life,” Coffee said.
She added, “It's a good habit to get in, and it can mean the difference between life and death.”
A more quiet year around rest of county
Lakeport and Clearlake Police and the Lake County Sheriff's Office noted a busy Fourth, that, overall, was quieter than previous years.
LCSO's arrest logs for July 3, 4 and 5 showed no arrests for DUI or any serious assaults.
Lt. Brad Rasmussen of the Lakeport Police Department said there was one serious gang-related assault in Lakeport on Wednesday, and some other arrests.
“If we're talking about the celebration in Library Park, that portion of it was pretty quiet,” said Rasmussen, a lot quieter than previous years, he added.
There were a lot of fireworks-related calls, said Rasmussen, with calls for service on the street showing an increase.
In Clearlake, the city's busiest day was Saturday, when it held its Fourth of July festivities, said Lt. Mike Hermann of Clearlake Police.
On Saturday, “We made numerous arrests during the day,” said Hermann.
A rap concert that night yielded only one minor fight between two young women, he added.
The city was relatively quiet on Wednesday, said Hermann, with one traffic collision. Clearlake Police made no DUI arrests over the Fourth of July holiday, he added.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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NORTHSHORE – A San Francisco man lost in a remote area of the county was found Wednesday afternoon by a California Highway Patrol pilot.
A report from CHP Officer Adam Garcia of the Clear Lake CHP office explained that the agency received a request for assistance at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, who were searching for a man reported lost in the Clearlake Oaks area.
Anton Oenning of San Francisco was riding his BMW motorcycle somewhere northwest of High Valley Road and east of Bartlett Springs Road when he became stuck in a ditch, Garcia reported.
Oenning had run out of water, Garcia reported, was disoriented from the heat and was unsure of his location.
CHP deployed one of its fixed-wing airplanes from the Redding office, piloted by Officer B. Singleton along with Lake County Sheriff's Search and Rescue, according to Garcia.
Pilot Officer Singleton was able to locate Oenning at approximately 4:30 p.m., Garcia said.
A CHP helicopter piloted by Officer G. Bakker with flight paramedic Officer T. Stanley was deployed and transported Oenning to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he was treated.
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Lakeport -- The Fourth of July fireworks as seen from the Clear Lake Queen are presented in video for your viewing pleasure. Please note that some Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) may have issues displaying the video so if you use IE7 you may prefer to download the file here.
{playerflv}Lakeportfourth2007.flv|320|240|#000000|false{/playerflv}
LUCERNE – Lucerne's aging water system sprang another leak over the Fourth of July holiday.
Residents noticed a huge main break at 15th Avenue and Country Club on Wednesday afternoon.
Lenny Matthews said her home was without water for at least a half hour. She called Cal Water's toll-free number to report the emergency but was told no emergency crews were available to respond.
She then drove down to Cal Water's Lucerne office on Highway 20, which was closed. From there she went to the Northshore Fire Protection District main office in Lucerne, where Chief Jim Robbins had already made calls to Cal Water about the pipe break.
Robbins had better luck than Matthews, with crews from Cal Water and Epidendio Construction on scene late Wednesday afternoon to repair the break.
The crews had to dig a trench about 5 feet deep in the dirt alongside Country Club to get down to the broken pipe.
Matthews said her water was back on later in the afternoon.
Cal Water customers began receiving letters this week from the company, thanking them for conservation efforts so far this spring.
However, the letter informed customers that that continued conservation was needed to prevent water outages, especially over the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.
Among the company's suggestions to save water: stop outdoor irrigation and fix leaking pipes.
There's no word yet on the amount of water lost in the Lucerne water break.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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