CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Police officers responding to a 911 call Thursday night encountered several armed men, with guns drawn, leading to a brief and unintentional armed confrontation that diffused once the officers realized they were facing down undercover Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force members.

Clearlake's interim police chief believes the dangerous situation developed because his agency wasn't informed that the operation was taking place.

“We were not notified of any other law enforcement activity within our jurisdiction,” said Chief Craig Clausen said.

Sheriff Frank Rivero, however, said the reports about the situation were exaggerated, and that his agency didn't notify the Clearlake Police Department because of the need for secrecy in carrying out the operation.

“I can't afford to lose the element of surprise,” he said.

Clausen said his agency responded to a 911 call Thursday at approximately 8:47 p.m. at a location in the city's Avenues area.

“A female victim told us that her boyfriend was handcuffed by three large male subjects,” Clausen said.

He said the woman was told to get out of the house “because bad things were going to happen.”

Four Clearlake Police officers and a sergeant responded, said Clausen.

When they got to the location, “There was a confrontation,” Clausen said.

Sources close to the incident told Lake County News that the sheriff specifically ordered the narcotics unit not to notify Clearlake Police about the activities in the city.

The confrontation that resulted, according to the sources, consisted of the police officers arriving at the scene with guns drawn, where they found armed subjects – undercover narcotics agents – who also had guns drawn for a home entry as part of a search warrant service.

A police officer reportedly recognized one of the undercover deputies before the situation escalated, according to the sources.

Clausen said the situation quickly diffused after the police officers learned that they had come upon undercover Lake County Sheriff's personnel.

He said Friday that he had received information that the undercover operation resulted in arrests, but he didn't have information on it.

Clausen said he had had no communication with Rivero, and was concerned about what had occurred.

Never in his entire career had he been involved in anything like the Thursday incident, Clausen said.

He said he notified interim City Administrator Steve Albright and Mayor Joyce Overton of the situation.

Clausen said the lines of communication have to open up between the Clearlake Police Department and the sheriff's office.

“We're going to get officers and deputies hurt by doing this and that concerns me,” he said.

Rivero said Friday that the Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force was undertaking an operation that had begun in Nice and led to a search warrant service in Clearlake, where he said arrests resulted.

Undercover deputies also were able to purchase about an ounce of crank, Rivero said.

He said the operation was “still in progress” on Friday and that more specifics about the arrests and the outcome would be available early next week.

“It's a pretty big operation,” he said.

Due to the secret nature of such activities, and the need to keep deputies safe, Rivero said he considered it standard operating procedure not to disclose information on planned operations, even when in another jurisdiction. He said that included sharing information with another agency like Clearlake Police.

The operation also was “rapidly unfolding,” making it necessary to act first, Rivero said.

“You can put protocol in front of action, but that's just not my style,” said Rivero.

Rivero said one of his staffers said two Clearlake Police officers saw the task force members staging at St. Helena Hospital Clearlake a short time before the confrontation occurred, so he questioned how they couldn't have known the task force was in the city.

The sheriff also faulted Clausen for not calling him if he had concerns, noting that he was very accessible. “It's his issue, not mine.”

The narcotics squad – which doesn't include a Clearlake Police member – is the sheriff's office's highest priority unit, said Rivero.

He said the task force has conducted operations in the city and will continue to do so, noting a lot of methamphetamine is coming out of Clearlake.

Rivero suggested that Clausen was upset because of a case the sheriff's department sent to the district attorney earlier this year alleging that Clausen had assaulted an elderly female neighbor in April 2010, as Lake County News has reported.

District Attorney Don Anderson asked Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster to review the case, which Eyster did, settling it by having Clausen apologize to the woman, who reportedly hadn't wanted to press charges.

Rivero said that, looking back, he would handle the case the same way.

Regarding the Thursday incident, both Rivero and Clausen said they didn't want to see a turf war, but Rivero said that he would conduct the operation in the same way again.

Clausen emphasized the need to keep officers and deputies safe.

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