How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lt. Brad Rasmussen of Lakeport Police said that Lakeport Police, Lake County Sheriff's officials, California Highway Patrol, Lake County Narcotic Task Force, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Lake County District Attorney's Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Lake County Probation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation participated in the action.
Rasmussen said the enforcement was focused on local parolees who have affiliations with different types of gangs.
The one-day operation required about a month of preparation, including gathering intelligence about the parolees' activities, said Rasmussen.
From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. the agencies conducted 14 parole searches around the county, Rasmussen said. “As a result of those searches, three parolees were arrested for being in violation of parole.”
Tuesday's arrests for felony parole violations included Daniel Ray Loyd, 46, of Clearlake, whose charges also included a felony for taking a vehicle without the owner's consent and a parole violation; Jay Allen Herman, 37, a laborer residing in Middletown; and Adam Nicholas Southard, 20, of Lakeport whose occupation is listed as “property management” in the Lake County Jail's booking information.
“Based on evidence located in some of the searches, we expect parole violation warrants to be issued for two more parolees,” said Rasmussen. Those two individuals' parole violations include associating with or participating in gangs.
No firearms were found, said Rasmussen, but knives and other prohibited weapons were located, along with gang paraphernalia.
The enforcement led to some interesting finds in addition to arrests, said Rasmussen.
“At one location in Lakeport, 30 mature marijuana plants were seized by the FBI,” he said, adding that the agency is conducting a federal investigation on that cultivation operation.
No arrests were made in conjunction with the marijuana seizure, Rasmussen added. The case is expected to be referred to the US Attorney's Office.
Lakeport Police Det. Norm Taylor said this is the first time a gang member-specific enforcement has been conducted.
The county's gang task force communicated with both state and fed agencies on the effort, said Taylor.
Those checked in Tuesday's searches were members or associates of numerous gangs, said Taylor.
Represented were members of Hispanic street gangs, prison gangs and even white supremacists, Taylor said, who noted there is a notable mix of groups around the county.
Taylor and two other officers have been assigned to a special Lakeport Police gang detail that focuses on gang-related investigations since last year.
“For the past year, we've been doing everything we can to be proactive and gather intelligence on criminal street gangs and people who participate in them,” Taylor said.
Those increased efforts coincide with a spring and summer that have witnessed increasing gang activity in the city limits, first with Alex Larranaga's stabbing on March 16 in Library Park, and then the July 4 beating of a 14-year-old boy on 11th Street.
Both victims were attacked by gangs – Larranaga by Surenos, the teen by Nortenos – who mistook them for rival gang members, Lakeport Police previously reported.
Taylor said this week's sweep was just a continuation of the department's effort to turn up the heat on street gang activity.
The operation Tuesday received assistance from the Department of Corrections, which has a special unit to focus just on parolees with gang affiliations, Taylor said.
Bill Sessa, deputy press secretary for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told Lake County News that the agency's special gang unit is part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's anti-gang initiative.
Unit members are experts in gang tacts and identifications, Sessa explained. “They can read tattoos the way you and I would read a menu in a restaurant.”
While the gang unit is used to monitor gang activity in prisons, its members also assist local officials in sweets and parole compliance checks in an effort to break down gang activity, said Sessa.
“They provide assistance at the request of local government,” said Sessa.
The special gang unit acts hand-in-hand with the agency's fugitive apprehension team, whose agents are specifically trained to find fugitive parolees, said Sessa.
Taylor said enforcements like this one will be part of a continuing effort by the Lake County Gang Task Force to focus on people who are actively participating in criminal street gangs.
“We're going to put together sweeps periodically and put together an enforcement effort,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
A report from California Highway Patrol Officer Josh Dye reported that Sidne Allread, 63, received multiple fractures and a major head injury as a result of the crash, which occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on Highway 20 west of Bruner Drive.
Allread was driving her 2003 Mazda Protege westbound on Highway 20 at an unknown speed, said Dye, who added there were not witnesses to the incident.
For reasons that aren't known, Allread's vehicle went off the road to the north and went up a steep cutbank, where it hit a mass of rocks, according to Dye's report.
The car then rolled over onto its roof in the westbound lane, Dye reported.
Allread, who was alone in the car, was wearing her seat belt, but received major injuries and didn't regain consciousness before being flown by REACH helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.
No further information about Allread's condition was available Wednesday afternoon.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT – Three Sureno gang members accused of participating in a March assault in Library Park have received prison sentences.
The District Attorney's Office reported that on Monday Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Juan Luis Yepez, 17, to eight years in prison and gave Mathew Allen Domeier, 17, and Elias Hernandez, 20, each nine-year prison terms for their part in the March 16 assault of Alex Larranaga of Clearlake Oaks.
Larranaga, 19 at the time of the assault, was approached by several known gang members as he was leaving TNT's Restaurant with his family, as Lake County News previously reported. The gang members began flashing gang signs before they jumped Larranaga, who was beaten and stabbed.
Domeier and Yepez, ages 16 and 17, respectively, at the time of the assault, were tried as adults in the case after they were found unfit to be tried as juveniles in an April 30 hearing, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
In July, Domeier, Yepez and Hernandez all pleaded guilty to felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury, Hinchcliff reported.
The three documented Sureno gang members also admitted to a special allegation that the offense was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote criminal conduct by gang members, Hinchcliff said.
Prosecuting the case was Gary Luck, who retired last year as the District Attorney but has joined the office of his successor, Jon Hopkins, as a deputy district attorney specializing in juvenile cases.
Attorney Stephen Carter, who represented Domeier, said his client and the other defendants at first faced a much stiffer sentence – life in prison – because they had been charged with attempted murder, aggravated mayhem (a charge related to attempted murder, according to Hinchcliff) and a more serious gang enhancement.
Carter said he and the other defense attorneys on the case, including Roy Miller of Santa Rosa, worked to lower the charges, arriving at a plea deal on charges that Carter said he felt the District Attorney's Office could prove in court.
“So even though Mathew got a signification prison sentence, I was very pleased to avoid him getting a life sentence,” Carter said.
Domeier did not hold the knife, said Carter, but was engaged in hitting and kicking Larranaga.
Lt. Brad Rasmussen of Lakeport Police said that another suspect in the case who has not yet gone to trial, Ricardo Muniz, 18, is accused of actually stabbing Larranaga. Another juvenile defendant, 14 at the time, was charged in the case but there was no information on his case status Tuesday.
Domeier, who had been in the gang about a year when the assault occurred, had a sad family life – he never knew his father – and was interested in going into the military at one point, Carter said.
“He could have gone a much better way,” said Carter.
In the case of a juvenile like Domeier, Carter said he'll actually serve only four and a half years of the nine-year sentence. At least half of that prison time will be spent in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Juvenile Justice Division, former known as the California Youth Authority, Carter added.
Hinchcliff said all three young men will be required to register with law enforcement as gang members once they're released from prison.
In addition, they'll be required to pay restitution to Larranaga. However, the amount they'll be required to pay has yet to be determined; Hinchcliff said it will depend on Larranaga's extensive medical bills and any other out-of-pocket expenses that he and his family incurred because of the assault.
Convicted gang members were significant players
All of the gang members involved in the Larranaga assault are members of a local Surenos gang known as South Side Willow Point, Hinchcliff said. Investigators identified them by gang monikers including “Crazy” and “Rascal.”
Lakeport Police Det. Norm Taylor said Domeier, Yepez, Hernandez and the other defendants were part of a core group that resided or spent a majority of their time in the Willopoint Resort and Library Park areas.
Since their arrests, there has been little or no gang presence in those areas, said Taylor.
“They account for a substantial portion of the active gang members in the community,” Taylor added. “Their sentences will certainly have an impact on the gang activity we see in Lakeport, although it's just a continuing trend.”
As the community grows, Taylor said gang activity also will grow, with more young people being pulled into the gang lifestyle.
Taylor said the sentences handed out to the three suspects were “substantial.”
“The judicial system and the District Attorney were very vigilant in going after and prosecuting the people responsible,” said Taylor. “Law enforcement's attitude is they'll do everything they can to locate and prosecute anyone in criminal street gangs.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The Cal Fire Incident Command Center reported that the fire was reported at 10:12 a.m.
Cal Fire and Lake County Fire Protection District responded to the fire, located along Clayton Creek Road. Cal Fire sent its standard responded, including one air attack, two air tankers, one helicopter, one battalion chief, five engines, two dozers and two handcrews, officials reported.
No structures were threatened and no injuries reported, according to Cal Fire.
The fire's cause is still under investigation.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}