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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
KELSEYVILLE – A museum in the making has been burglarized, according to a county official.
The Ely Stage Stop, moved last summer to its new home on Highway 281 off Highway 29, was hit by burglars early this week, said Kim Clymire, Lake County Public Services director.
Clymire said his department had rented a cargo container to store tools used on the site. The container was padlocked, plywood was stacked against it and a forklift was up against that for an extra measure of security.
The suspects somehow got the forklift moved, cut the lock and stole about $5,000 in tools and gear, Clymire said.
“It's my understanding they also hit a construction site that same night,” said Clymire.
The construction site had a video camera, and Clymire said that provided the Lake County Sheriff's Office with some important evidence in the case.
Clymire called the burglary “a crying shame.”
“We're spending a lot of time and money on the Ely site,” he said.
Clymire said his department will have to purchase new tools to replace those that were stolen.
In addition to the burglary, Clymire has previously noted issues with vandalisms at parks and facilities around the county, as Lake County News has reported.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
District Attorney Jon Hopkins said late Friday that the jury in the trial of Renato Hughes had gone home after wrapping up its first week of deliberations.
The high-profile trial was moved to Martinez earlier this year. After a jury was seated last November, a visiting judge granted a change of venue over concerns that Hughes could not get a fair trial.
Hughes is facing two murder charges for the deaths of his friends, Rashad Williams and Christian Foster, on the morning of Dec. 7, 2005 during an alleged break-in at the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds and his girlfriend, Lori Tyler.
In addition, Hughes is facing an attempted murder charge for the beating of 17-year-old Dale Lafferty with a baseball bat and the assault on Edmonds who was hit with a shotgun.
Hughes didn't actually wield the pistol that killed Williams and Foster – it was Edmonds who pulled the trigger – the bat that left Lafferty with permanent brain injury, allegedly used by Williams, or the shotgun that Foster is alleged to have used to hit Edmonds in the face.
However, because Hughes is alleged to have been part of a break-in at the house of Shannon Edmonds, he's being tried under the provocative act doctrine, which holds a person responsible for any deaths that occur during the commission of certain violent crimes that can result in a lethal response.
As such, the other assaults also are being charged against him because they were provocative acts conducted by his companions, who Hopkins alleges were part of a “crime team” seeking to steal medical marijuana from Edmonds.
Hopkins and defense attorney Stuart Hanlon gave their closing arguments in the case on July 24, as Lake County News has reported.
The two men hammered away at the weaknesses in each others' cases during closing arguments.
Hopkins emphasized that the three men were at Edmonds' home with the intent to commit a crime, that they took weapons and little money, and weren't there to buy drugs, as Hughes said in his turn on the stand.
He detailed the crime scene and pointed to a getaway car, Hughes' DNA evidence found at the scene and eyewitness accounts to build the case for a robbery gone bad.
Hanlon, in turn, questioned the lack of blood evidence on a shotgun the prosecution has alleged was the same one used in the robbery; Hughes reportedly had a cut hand and Hanlon said his blood should have been on the gun if he had been carrying it. He also argued for the presence of a fourth individual, known as “Dre” to Hughes.
But Hanlon especially focused on Edmonds, who he alleged reloaded his pistol to continue shooting at Foster and Williams as they ran from his home. Both men died from wounds they received as they fled; Edmonds also said he shot Foster in the back as he lay on the ground, which Hanlon said was proved by forensic evidence.
He called Edmonds a “cold-blooded” killer, who had reportedly told police watching Foster's pants fall down as he ran away was “funny as s***.” But shooting young men in the backs, Hanlon emphasized, was no laughing matter, and was an indication of Edmonds' sense of vigilante justice.
On July 25 Hopkins offered his rebuttal to Hanlon's arguments, and then Judge Barbara Zuniga gave the jury instructions before adjourning for the week.
Out of five days this week Hopkins said the jury probably did about three days of deliberation, because some of the days the jury was only in session part of the day.
The jury asked to have Hughes' testimony, given on July 17, reread to them Friday, which took most of the day and may not have been completed, said Hopkins. It was the only thing they requested other than some exhibits.
Jurors are set to be back in the Martinez courthouse to continue deliberations on Tuesday, Hopkins said.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Detectives are trying to locate James Thomas Hubman, one of five suspects in the case, according to Chief Deputy James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Several other suspects, most of them juveniles, have been taken into custody in the incident, said Bauman, but the person actually responsible for the stabbing has yet to be identified.
Bauman reported that deputies responded to the area of Schindler and Fourth Streets in Clearlake Oaks on Wednesday shortly after midnight on a report of a fight between several juveniles and an adult.
When deputies arrived on the scene they found 32-year-old Jason Allard standing in front of his house on Schindler, with a towel applied to his waist, where he told deputies he had been stabbed, Bauman said.
Bauman said that, a few moments later, deputies were alerted to another disturbance a short distance away on First Street that appeared to be related to the stabbing.
While Northshore Fire District Rescue personnel responded to treat Allard, Bauman said additional deputies responded to a residence on First Street where a woman told them a group of juveniles had just run into a house and were yelling inside.
Bauman said three subjects – 19-year-old Ernest Raymond Knight, a 15-year-old juvenile and another 16-year-old juvenile, all of Clearlake Oaks – were detained.
Knight and one of the juveniles had sustained minor injuries, according to Bauman; all three also were under the influence of alcohol and it was clear to deputies that they had been involved in an altercation.
Based on the investigation officials concluded the fight started when Allard and two friends confronted the group of at least five subjects. Bauman said one of the subjects reportedly threw rocks at Allard’s trailer on Schindler and the ensuing argument escalated to the point of Allard retrieving a cane from his home.
The group reportedly charged at Allard one by one, Bauman said, and several of them were struck with the cane by Allard. At one point, Allard lost control of the cane and when he dove to the ground to retrieve it, several of them reportedly jumped on him.
The group then fled and when Allard returned to his home, he realized he had been stabbed in the lower right area of his back, Bauman said.
Officials transported Allard to Redbud Hospital and then to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by air ambulance where he was treated and released, Bauman reported.
Knight and the two juveniles detained on First Street were ultimately arrested and booked on misdemeanor charges of battery. Bauman said a fourth suspect, a 15-year-old juvenile from Clearlake Oaks, was located two hours later at his home on First Street and arrested for misdemeanor battery as well. None of the suspects required medical treatment.
Bauman said sheriff’s detectives are currently trying to locate Hubman, the fifth suspect in the case, for questioning.
The case is still pending investigation, Bauman said.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The crash occurred at approximately 2:18 p.m. on Highway 53 at the intersection with Olympic Drive, said Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department.
Hermann said the driver of a Toyota Camry, driving northbound, made a left turn in front of a PT Cruiser driver southbound.
The PT Cruiser's driver had to be extricated, said Hermann. Three adult passengers in the vehicle complained of minor to moderate pain, with two of them set to be airlifted out of the county for medical care.
“There may be some major injuries, definitely some broken bones,” Hermann said.
A small infant also was riding in the vehicle, said Hermann, and it was taken to Redbud Community Hospital as a precautionary measure to check for possible injuries.
The Camry's driver also was transported to Redbud Community Hospital, said Hermann, due to complaints of pain and minor to moderate injuries.
The names of the parties injured in the crash were not yet available, he said.
Hermann said it's believed this crash was caused by inattention on the part of the driver who turned into the oncoming car's path.
The Highway 53 and Olympic Drive intersection has been the site of several major crashes, including one in June which injured several dialysis patients riding in a taxi minivan. One of the patients died the next day after having been transported to Sonoma County for care, as Lake County News has reported.
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