LAKEPORT >> The calm of Christmas night was shattered when a man drove his pickup truck through a Main Street shop.
Lakeport police arrested Jason Fugit shortly after the incident, which destroyed the entrance of Campos Casuals and caused significant damage throughout the store, located between Third and Fourth streets.
“This is terrible,” said RheaBeth Campos as she surveyed the scene on Monday night. “I walked in and thought ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’”
Initial estimates list the damage at over $100,000. Only shards of glass remained of the shop’s automatic sliding doors. Clothing, computers, stands and other items were strewn inside.
Fugit gunned his truck into the store and continued until smashing into the back wall.
The incident, which police referred to as a deliberate act, occurred at approximately 6:50 p.m. Witnesses claim Fugit shouted something about domestic terrorism before accelerating. After his truck came to a stop against the rear of the building, leaving tire marks on the floor, Fugit exited and walked to the sidewalk.
“He was standing, kicking,” said Mya Wofford, one of the first witnesses to call 911. “He was looking at us. He looked really scary.”
Several witnesses identified Fugit as the man often seen on the corner of Third and Main in Lakeport with cardboard signs on which he had written rambling messages regarding government conspiracy. According to Campos Casuals’ regional manager James Kellis, Fugit had visited the shop prior to the incident.
“He came in just two weeks ago and he handed us a two or three-page thing that he wanted the owners to read,” Kellis said. “We gave it to the police. It was about conspiracy theories, anti-government related. It didn’t pertain to us, it was just what he was protesting. I can’t think of any reason why he would target us.”
Lakeport Police Officer Tyler Trouette acknowledged that Fugit had previous run ins with law enforcement. Investigators were trying to determine if anything had been taken. Trouette reported that Fugit did not resist arrest. After a short time in the squad car, however, he began to grow restive, pounding on the window and shouting “let me out.”
In addition to LPD officers, deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call. And a crew from Lakeport Public Works arrived quickly to clean up shattered glass and other debris from the sidewalk and street.
Inside Campos Casuals was a scene of carnage on Monday. Racks were toppled and crushed, the front counter had been knocked from its foundation and shoved to the back of the store. Boxes and glass littered the area
“There’s tons of damage,” Kellis said. “Everything in the store that he ran over is ruined with tire marks and are ripped. Our computer system is gone. The more I go through it the more damage I find.”
Campos Casuals has been a downtown fixture since 1985. The family-owned clothing store was renovated inside and out seven years ago.
RheaBeth Campos rushed to the store immediately after being informed by the alarm company. Her husband and co-owner Ron is in a Bay Area hospital. Shop staff and others arrived soon after to assist with clean up and to secure plywood to cover the entrance. Lake County supervisor Rob Brown also came to help out.
Officers called for a tow truck to remove the vehicle. The store’s back door was damaged by the impact.
“I can’t believe it,” Campos said. “We can’t be out of business. I don’t understand.”
Fugit was taken into custody facing charges of felony burglary, vandalism and reckless driving.
