Lake County >> Since reports of looting first began on Monday, dozens of units have been out patrolling fire stricken neighborhoods non stop.
“We’re trying to inundate the area with law enforcement officers,” Lt. Steve Brooks, public information officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), said Wednesday. “We will continue the patrols as wee see necessary.”
Police from at least 13 agencies from around the Bay Area have been pouring into the neighborhoods of Cobb Mountain, Hidden Valley Lake and Lower Lake in an attempt to subdue trespassing.
Some daytime reports of suspicious activity, including those of people on bicycles or ATVs, have been homeowners attempting to asses damage. At nights, however, officers have been contacting anyone they see out in these areas, because as daylight dims looting increases, Brooks said.
At least five people have been taken into custody as of Wednesday, several in the evening or early morning.
Two Cobb residents were arrested on Monday at about 4:17 p.m. in the area of the now destroyed Hoberg’s Resort and Spa on Emorford Road — one of the evacuated areas where some buildings were untouched by the Valley fire.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) deputies attempted to flag down a suspicious black Honda occupied by four people. The vehicle instead fled, leading officers on a short pursuit which ended at a dead end road near Highway 175 and Forestry Road, according to MCSO reports.
Deputies ordered the subjects to step out of the vehicle, and detained three adults and a 14-year-old boy. Upon investigation, the teenager and one adult were released at the scene.
The driver was identified as James Dotson, 23, and was booked into the Lake County jail on charges of vehicular flight, child endangerment and possession of methamphetamine. The second arrest was of Richard Tillman, 27, who was also booked into the county jail on two outstanding no-bail arrest warrants for probation violations out of Mendocino County.
Less than two hours later, an LCSO deputy arrested Steven Worley, who was reportedly impersonating a police officer, Brooks said. A resident of Whispering Pines, the 36-year old was discovered to have a Sentry fire safe, six cell phones, a portable Wi-Fi device, iPod and a wallet with identification that was not his own inside the vehicle.
“This guy is from the neighborhood and he’s praying on his own neighbors,” Brooks said.
The LSCO deputy spotted the vehicle covered in pink flame retardant in the area of Highway 175 and Maple Shadows Road with its hazard lights on at about 4:45 p.m. He followed the vehicle, which he already associated with Worley due to prior contact, but it allegedly sped away at a high rate of speed until the deputy caught up near the intersection of Maple Shadows Road and Parnassus Drive, Brooks stated.
Worley stepped out wearing a yellow rain jacket and a blue baseball hat marked with a seven-point star that read “California Highway Patrol.” He said he was trying to find something at his mother’s house.
Upon searching the vehicle, the deputy also found an envelope with 13 shaped obsidian points which Worley said he found along a creek.
Worley was taken into custody and charged with petty theft during a state of emergency, wearing identification to impersonate a police officer and removing, injuring or destroying any object of archaeological or historical interest or value.
Another arrest was made by a California Highway Patrol officer at about 10:30 p.m. No information has been released, but according to the Lake County jail online booking logs, Richard Rego, 34, faces charges of a misdemeanor offense of entering a closed disaster area.
Yet another potential looter was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, Brooks stated in a media release sent out later that day. At about 5 a.m., LCSO deputies noticed a vehicle at a closed intersection at Bottle Rock Road and Highway 29 in Kelseyville where they were policing the road barrier. The officers illuminated the vehicle as it came to a stop in front of the barricade. When they approached the vehicle, they saw a female driver and a nervous man dressed in all black sitting in the back without a seat belt and made what officers considered to be suspicious movements, Brooks said. They identified him as Royce Sterling Moore, 26, who central dispatch advised had two warrants for his arrest and he was immediately detained.
The Lakeport man claimed they were trying to check on a friend’s parrot, but items found inside the vehicle made officers believe he was planning and attempting to burglarize evacuated residences in the Cobb Mountain area.
Deputies searched the backseat and reportedly found gloves, a black bandana and a backpack with multiple tools commonly used in thefts near Moore, who allegedly admitted the backpack was his. A deputy picked it up and discovered a broken BB gun that appeared to look like a semiautomatic handgun, Brooks said.
The deputy also located a methamphetamine smoking pipe. Because the to the tools were organized in the backpack, Moore was arrested and charged with possession of burglary tools, two warrants and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia. He was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.
And the activity doesn’t stop in the closed areas, some potential looters have been calling displaced homeowners saying they are either journalists or asking for addresses so they can check out residences. Brooks warns people not to give out information to anyone they do not know or cannot verify.
He doesn’t think attempts to loot will slow down, “I’m sure it’s happening now,” he said.
An elevated police presence will continue in areas affected until residents can safely return to their homes.
