Marc Harry Halvorsen, 27, of Nice, Calif., was found limping down 14th Avenue in Lucerne early on Sunday, July 24, 2011. Halvorsen, who was found under the influence of alcohol, allegedly was trying to break into the home of an elderly woman when she shot him. Lake County Jail photo.

LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a report on Monday concerning an early Sunday incident in which a 27-year-old man was shot by a 77-year-old Lucerne woman after he allegedly attempted to break into her home.

Marc Harry Halvorsen of Nice later was arrested for felony attempted robbery and attempted burglary, as Lake County News has reported.

Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said that sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded to a residence on 14th Avenue in Lucerne on a report of an attempted home invasion with shots fired at 1:50 a.m. Sunday.

As deputies responded to the area, further reports from the victim and other callers indicated that a male suspect had been confronted by a neighbor after finding him in the victim’s yard and that the victim had fired several shots at the suspect, Bauman said.

Within minutes of arriving at the scene, deputies located a man limping away from the area of the victim’s house on 14th Avenue. Bauman said deputies detained the man and identified him as Halvorsen.

Halvorsen allegedly was under the influence of alcohol and had sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg, Bauman said. Medics from Northshore Fire Protection District were called in to tend to Halvorsen’s wound while deputies investigated the scene.

The victim, who is elderly and confined to a wheelchair, told deputies she was asleep in her living room when she was awakened by her barking dog, Bauman said.

Her dog was running back and forth in the house and just as it alerted to the sliding glass door in the living room, the victim heard a loud bang on the door. Bauman said the victim picked up her phone to call 911 and then retrieved her 9 millimeter handgun while she was dialing.

Despite her yelling at the intruder to get away from her house or she would shoot, the suspect continued to pound on her glass door. When the victim started to hear glass breaking, she fired a shot at the suspect, Bauman said.

The intruder continued to pound on the glass door and each time he pounded, the victim fired a shot at him. Bauman said it later was determined that the victim fired a total of five shots at the suspect before he ceased his attempts to get in the house.

A neighbor told deputies he was awakened to the sound of barking dogs. As he began exiting his house to investigate, he heard a gunshot, according to Bauman.

When the neighbor went outside, he saw Halvorsen in the victim’s yard. The neighbor confronted Halvorsen, telling him he didn’t belong there, but Halvorsen told him to go home and then commenced to kick and pound on the victims sliding glass door, Bauman said.

The neighbor then heard another shot come from the house and he saw Halvorsen “flinch,” presumably due to being hit, according to Bauman's report.

Halvorsen was arrested and transported under guard to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for further treatment of his gunshot wound, Bauman said.

Bauman said the 77-year-old victim was unharmed during the incident.

While at the hospital, Halvorsen allegedly told deputies that he had been drinking at his cousin’s house in Lucerne earlier in the evening. Bauman said Halvorsen said he did not remember anything after leaving his cousin’s house, including beating and kicking on the victim’s door or even being shot.

After several hours at the hospital, Halvorsen was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility where he was booked for attempted robbery and attempted burglary, Bauman said.

Jail records show that Halvorsen remains in custody with bail set at$50,000.

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The Administrative Office of the Courts is proposing to build the new two-story, 50,000-square-foot courthouse on a six-acre parcel at 675 Lakeport Blvd. The estimated project cost is $53 million.

Looking on during the Tuesday council meeting were Lake County Superior Court Judges Andrew Blum, Stephen Hedstrom, David Herrick and Richard Martin; Lake County Superior Court Executive Officer Mary Smith; Anne Ording, the state's courthouse project manager; and Mary Bustamante, a senior real estate analyst with the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The memorandum of understanding – or MOU – the council approved with the state on Tuesday was necessary in order to clear up an access issue to the Lakeport Boulevard property.

In the due diligence process, the Administrative Office of the Courts' title company had concluded that there was a potential legal issue regarding property access because the property fronts on a portion of land that once belonged to Caltrans and was relinquished by the state to the city. Lakeport didn't designate it as street right-of-way, according to city documents.

At its May 17 meeting the council had considered the same agreement, which grants the state perpetual, nonexclusive use of the access area adjacent to Lakeport Boulevard for ingress and egress to the courthouse property, as Lake County News has reported.

The document also included a clause that the state would dedicate a right-of-way for a new proposed collector street to serve the courthouse “if feasible.”

Ording told the council at the time that the state had included the language because they had no information on what the road would look like.

Nonetheless, the council voted to accept the agreement with any instances of “if feasible” removed, because they wanted to guarantee that the road would be built.

The result was that the Administrative Office of the Courts rejected the language and the agreement the council approved, and began negotiating with the city on other options, one of which included proposing that the city build the road with the state to consider if it would participate financially. City staff rejected that proposal, according to city Community Development/Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll's report to the council for Tuesday's meeting.

With the purchase unable to proceed without an agreement, Knoll went back to the council with the original agreement, with the “if feasible” passages intact.

“There's been a fairly significant change in circumstance,” he told the council Tuesday.

That change, Knoll explained, came in the form of another agreement reached between the city and the state to pursue a feasibility study and engineering analysis for the proposed new road.

Once the study is complete, Knoll said the city and state will discuss whether the road's construction makes sense, taking into account topography, road alignment and other factors.

“In light of that, the MOU that has been proposed really makes the most sense in terms of the state's situation as far as acquiring the property” and moving ahead with design, said Knoll.

He added, “Staff is recommending that the city council approve the MOU as presented,” noting that city staff was “very comfortable” with the document as written because they know there will be additional discussion in the future.

Councilman Tom Engstrom, who in May had advocated removing the “if feasible” language, said he also was comfortable with the document.

Councilman Roy Parmentier, however, didn't want the “if feasible” language included.

“I just don't trust the state,” he said.

Mayor Pro Tem Stacey Mattina moved to approve the agreement, with Engstrom seconding. The vote was 4-1, with Parmentier voting no.

On Wednesday, Smith told Lake County News that, with the agreement approved, the state can move forward with the property purchase, which is expected to take at least a few weeks to wrap up.

On Friday morning the California Judicial Council is set to meet in San Francisco to talk about how to deal with the $350 million reduction to the state judicial branch's budget that was approved by the state Legislature and the governor as part of the state budget.

There are concerns about how those cuts might affect courthouse projects like Lakeport's, which the state judicial ranked among the most urgent in California.

However, Smith said local court officials are keeping an optimistic outlook.

“I think we're far enough along we're in good stead,” she said, but added, “That doesn't mean there won't be delays.”

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The council meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The staff reports for the meeting can be downloaded at www.cityoflakeport.com/departments/docs.aspx?deptID=88&catID=102 or at www.scribd.com/LakeCoNews.

Finance Director Dan Buffalo will ask the council for direction regarding the funding strategy to keep the Lakeport Redevelopment Agency alive, including what he termed the “redevelopment ransom payment” in his report.

As a result of Gov. Jerry Brown singing AB1x on June 28, redevelopment agencies are eliminated. However, a sister bill, AB1x 27, has provisions that would allow agencies to continue their activities if they agree to make a series of pass-through payments, Buffalo's report to the council explains.

“Both statutes are highly ambiguous in language, malicious in intent, and dubious in constitutional legality,” wrote Buffalo in his report. “The California Redevelopment Association (CRA) and League of California Cities intend to file suit within the next few days requesting an immediate stay to the effectiveness of both statutes and a ruling on the basis of their legality under the State's Constitution.”

Nonetheless, Buffalo said the city's administrative staff crated a contingency plan and funding strategy to meet the financial commitments.

He said city staff is estimating that the city will owe the state $311,534 for fiscal year 2011-12 and $73,302 for fiscal year 2012-13.

Buffalo also is asking the council to direct staff to come back with an ordinance under AB1x27 to continue the agency and make the required payments. The Board of Supervisors considered similar action last week and has so far agreed to pursue opting in to making the payments in order to keep the county agency afloat as well.

Later in the meeting, Community Development and Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll will ask the council to approve a new memorandum of understanding with the state Administrative Office of the Courts for right-of-way access to 675 Lakeport Blvd., the proposed site of a new county courthouse.

In May the council had approved a memorandum of understanding that removed the words “if feasible” relating to the state's dedication of a right-of-way for a new proposed collector street.

However, Knoll's report said the Administrative Office of the Courts has rejected the revised agreement, instead proposing that the city build the road to serve the new courthouse with the state considering financial participation, an approach which Knoll said city staff rejected.

With the Administrative Office of the Courts unable to purchase the property and move forward on the $53 million project with the right-of-way, Knoll is suggesting the council reconsider the original agreement that included the “if feasible” language.

“This will allow the land to be purchased and should prop up the Lakeport project in context of the State's budget problems,” he said.

He included in the packet a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts announcing a July 22 meeting in San Francisco where the Judicial Council will meet to discuss the $350 million budget reduction to the state's judicial branch.

That cut, according to the news release, includes the elimination of $310 million from the Immediate and Critical Needs Account, SB 1407, that is funding the Lakeport courthouse other priority projects around the state.

Also on the agenda is a request for the council to approve hiring freeze exemptions to allow recruitment for an open water operator, part-time department secretary and Public Works supervisor, and a request to direct staff to proceed with a construction project enclosing three office spaces in

City Hall.

In other council business, council members will recognize Lakeport Building Official Tom Carlton for obtaining the Association of State Floodplain Managers Certified Floodplain Manager Certificate and approve a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for funding under the HOME Investment Partnerships

Program.

The council will appoint Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton as the city's representative on the Lake County Clean Water Program Advisory Council and receive a report on a breakdown of funds received from the city's Measure I half-cent sales tax measure, and provide direction and feedback to staff as to the recommended uses of Measure I revenue.

The council also will hold a closed session to discuss the lawsuit filed against the city, Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 and Lakeport Police Officers Association v. City of Lakeport, Lakeport City Council, and a case of anticipated litigation, as well as employee negotiations and property negotiations regarding Green Ranch.

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“Operation Full Court Press” is a multiagency, focused operation comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that is working to identify and eradicate illegal marijuana cultivation sites on public lands in and near the Mendocino National Forest, and to conduct reclamation activities on the environmentally affected areas.

The operations are taking place in a six-county area – Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Glenn, Tehama and Trinity, according to a joint statement from the sheriff's office of those counties.

Officials said Proposition 215 medical marijuana grow sites are not being targeted, as such grows are not the focus of the eradication and reclamation effort on public lands.

Rather, Operation Full Court Press is taking aim at large scale illegal marijuana cultivation, which officials said leads to deforestation, damages wildlife habitats and induces hazardous chemical pollution.

The use of herbicides, pesticides and rodenticides can cause extensive and long term damage to ecosystems and impact public drinking water for hundreds of miles.

Reclaiming the devastated areas on public lands is a key component of the current operations, according to the participating agencies. Removing trash and infrastructure inherent in these sites helps to restore the land to its natural condition. Hundreds of pounds of hazardous debris and trash, including propane tanks and empty pesticide containers, are removed from these sites each year.

A major goal of Operation Full Court Press is making public lands available once again for current and future generations to safely enjoy recreating on public lands and benefiting from clean water and healthy natural resources.

The participating agencies said that while they can confirm that the operations are going on, due to officer safety and security reasons they cannot release any additional information relating to these activities.

The group also asked for the public’s patience and understanding as they conduct the operations and reclaim public lands.

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Firefighters work at the scene of a head-on crash on Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, Calif., on Monday, July 18, 2011. The three people riding in the red Dodge Neon pictured were injured and transported to area hospitals. Photo by Ace Nailor.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man determined to be at fault in a Monday afternoon crash that injured three people was arrested for driving under the influence and hit-and-run after he left the scene of the collision only to crash into a nearby business.

Robert Lawrence Millsap, 26, was arrested for felony DUI causing injury, felony hit-and-run and possession of a narcotic controlled substance, according to Sgt. Tim Hobbs of the Clearlake Police Department.

Hobbs said Monday night that at 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 18, Clearlake Police officers responded to the 14600 Block of Lakeshore Drive for a two-vehicle injury traffic collision.

Upon arriving on scene officers located one of the involved vehicles – a red 2003 Dodge Neon – which had sustained major damage in the westbound lane of Lakeshore Drive, Hobbs said.

He said the vehicle had three occupants who sustained injuries.

Fire and medical personnel from the Lake County Fire Protection District arrived on scene and began treating the victims, one of whom had to be extricated from the vehicle, Hobbs said.

The driver of the Dodge Neon, a 42-year-old Clearlake woman, sustained moderate injuries and was transported by ambulance to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, Hobbs said.

Rachel Hipol took this picture of the white Ford pickup driven by Robert Millsap, 26, of Clearlake during a collision that resulted in injury in Clearlake, Calif., on Monday, July 18, 2011. Millsap later was arrested for felony driving under the influence and other charges following the crash.

He said the 51-year-old female passenger in the vehicle sustained major injuries and was transported by helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

A 12-year-old female juvenile passenger in the vehicle also sustained major injuries and was transported by helicopter to Children's Hospital & Research Center of Oakland, Hobbs reported.

Hobbs said a 2003 white Ford F350 which had sustained minor damage was located a short distance away at the entrance to Redbud Park. Millsap was identified as the sole occupant of the vehicle.

Through the course of the investigation it was determined Millsap was the at-fault driver in the collision, Hobbs said.

After the collision Millsap left the scene in his vehicle only to crash into a business a short distance away, according to Hobbs.

Hobbs said it was determined that Millsap had been driving while under the influence of a controlled substance.

Millsap was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $10,000. He later posted bail and was released, according to jail records.

Hobbs said late Monday night that the two crash victims transported by air ambulance to out-of-county hospitals were in stable condition.

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Robert Millsap, 26, of Clearlake, Calif., was arrested following the crash on felony driving under the influence causing injury, felony hit and run and possession of a narcotic controlled substance, and booked into the Lake County Jail. Lake County Jail photo.

From left, Dorian Decker and Wyatt O'Brien were arrested in connection to two of several burglaries in Middletown, Calif., last week. Four juveniles were arrested for five other burglaries, according to sheriff's officials.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – On Thursday the Lake County Sheriff's Office offered details of the investigation into a string of burglaries committed this past weekend in the Middletown area, which resulted in the arrest of two adults and four juveniles.

The report, from Capt. James Bauman, credited the work of Middletown community service Deputy Dennis Keithly in the case.

Bauman said that, altogether, seven burglaries were solved as a result of the arrests.

He said the investigation began in the early morning hours of Monday, July 11, at approximately 3:30 a.m., when a sheriff’s vehicle was stuck by an egg as a graveyard deputy was patrolling the Middletown area on Highway 29 near the Hardester’s Market.

When the deputy stopped to investigate, he began checking businesses in the area and heard someone moving around on the roof of the Cowpoke Café, Bauman said.

When the deputy checked that business, he located a shoe print on top of a trash can that had apparently been used to access the roof of the business. Bauman said the deputy checked the roof of the business but was unable to locate any suspects.

When Keithly took over investigating the circumstances later that same morning, he found more shoe prints and several cartons of eggs on the roof of the Cowpoke Café, Bauman said. While checking with local citizens around town, one man revealed that he had seen several juveniles on the roof of Noble’s Liquors two days prior.

Further investigation led to the identity of three Middletown juveniles – a 14-year-old female, a 15-year-old female and a 17-year-old male, all of whom were determined to have been on the roof of Nobles Liquors on July 8, Bauman said. The same three juveniles also were alleged to have been on the roof of the Cowpoke Café the previous night.

When Keithly contacted the juveniles, his investigation further revealed that all three allegedly were involved in the burglaries of several Middletown businesses over the weekend and two other burglaries previously reported in March of this year, Bauman said.

Beulah’s Kitchen on Calistoga Street had been broken into on the night of July 10. Bauman said the cartons of eggs previously found on the roof of the Cowpoke Café were taken from the restaurant, as well as a bag containing approximately $75 in coins.

The Bunk House gift shop, also on Calistoga Street, had been broken into on the night of July 9. Bauman said purses, wallets and items of jewelry valued at approximately $175 were taken.

The Shangri La restaurant on Calistoga Street had been broken into on two separate occasions between July 6 and July 9, Bauman said. An unknown amount of cash was taken from the cash register during the first burglary and more than $600 worth of food and beer was taken during the second burglary.

Funtopia toy store on Calistoga Street had been broken into on the night of March 10. Currency, toys and other merchandise valued at over $550 were stolen during the burglary, according to Bauman.

The Olive Tree Spa & Salon on Calistoga Street had been broken into on the night of March 11. Bauman said hair care products, cosmetics and other merchandise valued at more than $1,870 were reportedly taken during that burglary.

Bauman said all three juveniles were arrested and booked at the Lake County Juvenile Hall on charges of burglary and receiving stolen property.

Shortly after booking the three juveniles, Keithly returned to Middletown to follow up on further leads he had developed that morning, Bauman said.

Further investigation by Keithly revealed that 18-year-old Dorian Jay Decker allegedly had been involved in both burglaries of the Shangri La restaurant, and that 18-year-old Wyatt Joseph O’Brien had allegedly been involved in one of the Shangri La burglaries. Bauman said a 16-year-old male juvenile also was tied to one of the Shangri La burglaries.

Throughout the afternoon, Decker, O’Brien and the fourth juvenile all were located and arrested for burglary, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy. Bauman said Decker and O’Brien were booked at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and the juvenile was booked at the Lake County Juvenile Hall.

In the course of investigating the last three suspects, Keithly learned that the mother of the juvenile male he had arrested that morning had found a rifle and ammunition in her son’s closet after he had been arrested, Bauman said. Further investigation revealed that those items had been taken in the early morning hours of July 11 during the burglary of an apartment on Barnes Street.

Bauman said all three juveniles initially arrested in the morning were charged with that burglary as well.

Sheriff Frank Rivero expressed his deepest gratitude to Keithly for his “diligent and expedient investigation” into the rash of burglaries.

Rivero reportedly appointed by Keithly as the Middletown/Cobb Mountain community service deputy earlier this year.

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