–KELSEYVILLE — A Saturday fight at a Kelseyville home lead to the arrest of two Lakeport residents for concealing a .38-caliber handgun.
Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) deputies responded to a reported fight in front of a Kelseyville home at 3:41 p.m. Saturday afternoon, according to an LCSO press release.
Sgt. Jim Beland confirmed Monday that Kelseyville Fire Protection District personnel also responded for a medical transport. One man was bleeding, but whether or not his injuries were caused by the fight is unknown, or whether or not he was involved in the fight at all.
Deputies found “several excited people” at the Kelseyville home, according to the LCSO release, who told deputies a man named Jose had started the fight and then left in a gray Isuzu utility vehicle. Witnesses also reportedly told fire personnel that a woman in the car was hiding a small handgun in her bra.
Several law enforcement officers, including a Lakeport police officer, performed a high-risk enforcement stop on finding the Isuzu. Suspects Jose Luis Valadez, 29, of Lakeport, Teresa Yepez-Garcia, 48, of Lakeport and another woman were detained and taken from the vehicle, and a .38-caliber handgun was found inside it.
Interviews with those involved both at the scene of the high-risk stop and at Sutter Lakeside Hospital served to confirm that the fight had occurred at the Kelseyville home, but yielded no cooperation towards prosecution of any of the parties involved, according to the LCSO release.
Questioning did reveal that Yepez-Gardcia and Valadez were both in possession of the .38-caliber handgun, and both were arrested on charges of carrying a concealable firearm in a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
Yepez-Garcia was one of several who protested in March against the arrests and prosecution of suspects in the March 16 stabbing of Alex Larranaga, 19, of Clearlake Oaks.
She identified herself at the March 22 protest as the mother of 17-year-old suspect Juan Yepez, who along with one of the other three minors arrested in the case will be tried as an adult. Two other adult males were also arrested in connection with the stabbing.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com. To comment on this story, scroll to “Comment” at the bottom of this webpage, fill out the webform, and click “Publish”.
