MENDOCINO COUNTY – Mendocino County authorities have arrested two men for a series of burglaries around Mendocino and Lake counties.

A report from Captain Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office explained that deputies arrested Ben Brooks, 25, of Redwood Valley and Brent Harding, 32, of Ukiah on burglary charges for incidents that occurred between April and June.

Beginning in April, Smallcomb reported that a series of commercial burglaries began taking place in Mendocino County. Businesses hit included the Hopland Subway and the Superette, Lemons Market in Philo, storage sheds in Ukiah and the Buckhorn Bar in Covelo.

In Lake County, the Fast and Easy Market in Upper Lake also was burglarized, Smallcomb reported.

Items taken from the stories included cash, safes, an ATM machine, liquor and cigarettes, according to Smallcomb's report.

Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies, led by Deputy Derek Hendry, investigated all of the burglaries, said Smallcomb.

Those investigations, Smallcomb reported, led to Hendry's arrests of Brooks and Harding on Aug. 31.

Brooks already was in custody on unrelated charges and booked for burglary, said Smallcomb.

Harding, Smallcomb added, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail for the burglaries along with a

probation violation. Because of the probation violation, Harding remains in jail on a no-bail hold.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

{mos_sb_discuss:2}