LAKEPORT — A judge sentenced a 32-year-old man to 20 years and four months in prison Monday for the attempted murder of his adoptive father, assault on a deputy sheriff and using a firearm during a felony in November 2008.
Charles William Burk pleaded guilty Feb. 10. Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Burk to the upper term of nine years for attempted murder, 16 months for the assault on Deputy Bryan Smith and 10 years for the special allegation of using a firearm during a felony, according to the Lake County District Attorney”s Office. Burk was also ordered to pay a restitution fine of $4,200.00, and restitution to the victims totaling $21,266.01.
Burk will be sent to San Quentin for processing and classification to determine at which prison he will be housed.
Burk and co-defendant, Malcolm Brown, broke into the home of Burk”s adoptive parents about 7 a.m. Nov. 13, 2008 on Noble Ranch Road in the Hidden Valley Lake area, the Lake County Sheriff”s Office reported. The parents and their 22-year-old son were sleeping.
Upon entry, Brown started hitting the 22-year-old in the head, LCSO reported. Burk grabbed a .22-calibur rifle in the house, pointed it at his father who emerged from his bedroom a few feet away and pulled the trigger. There was no bullet in the chamber and the gun did not fire. Burk then attempted to chamber a round in the barrel, but the bullet lodged sideways in the chamber and would not fire.
The victims were able to force Burk and Brown to leave the residence after a violent physical confrontation in which the victims received physical injuries requiring stitches at the hospital, the Sheriff”s Office reported.
While fleeing the scene down Spruce Grove Road with Burk driving, Burk encountered sheriff deputy Bryan Smith responding to the scene, LCSO reported.
Burk intentionally swerved his vehicle into Smith”s patrol vehicle and rammed it, then continued with his escape.
Burk and Brown then drove through a metal gate and a cyclone fence on private property off of Spruce Grove Road, drove down a driveway, through a chicken coop and crashed their vehicle into a tree near a residence, the Sheriff”s Office reported. Burk then left the vehicle with the motor running and attempted to break into a house on the property, but was prevented from gaining entry by the residents inside.
Burk and Brown then separated, and Burk broke into an unoccupied residence on Raven Hill Road, LCSO reported. Inside the residence, Burk gathered a bag of food and other items to use in his escape and found a razor, which he used to shave his head and face to disguise himself. For an unknown reason, Burk also removed clothing from and cut the hair off of several Barbie dolls belonging to the daughter of the owner of the residence.
The Lake County Sheriff”s Department conducted an extensive manhunt, including assistance from a Sonoma County Sheriff”s helicopter. Sheriff and California Highway Patrol officers located the suspects later that day and arrested them.
Brown was sentenced on May 26 to 16 years in prison. He pleaded guilty on April 20 to first-degree burglary and assault with a firearm for aiding and abetting. Brown also admitted serving a prison term for a prior “strike,” a 1998 conviction of first-degree burglary.
