LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Authorities have arrested a third suspect in the Thursday Lower Lake home invasion and vehicle pursuit that led to one responding deputy being in a head-on collision that killed a Clearlake woman.
Jesse Gilbert Moncivaiz, 28, an unemployed Clearlake man who has previous drug and weapons arrests in his record, was taken into custody Thursday evening, officials said.
Two of Moncivaiz's alleged accomplices – James Robert Conaster, 38, of Clearlake and Lauren Astor Faumuina, 20, of Middletown – were arrested on Thursday morning, as Lake County News has reported.
Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said a fourth suspect is still outstanding. A description of that individual was not available.
Moncivaiz, Conaster, Faumuina and the fourth suspect are alleged to have robbed a Lower Lake home at gunpoint on Thursday morning, beating the victim and shooting at him, then fleeing in a pickup, officials said.
One deputy saw the vehicle in the area of Oak Haven and Morgan Valley Road and began a pursuit that led into the city of Clearlake, where the suspects eventually ditched the pickup and fled on foot. Conaster and Faumuina were taken into custody a short time later, according to the sheriff's report.
Another deputy responding to the area would have a head-on collision with a vehicle driven by 26-year-old Gabriela Rivas Garcia of Clearlake in the Manning Flat area between Kits Corner and Diener Drive on Highway 29.
Garcia was killed in the crash, which is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team and the Lake County District Attorney's Office, Brooks said. The deputy was seriously injured and flown out of the county.
On Thursday personnel consisting of the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force, Lake County Special Weapons and Tactics Team and a Clearlake Police Department K9 unit received information that Moncivaiz was one of the suspects responsible for the robbery, Brooks said.
Brooks said they also received information that Moncivaiz was hiding in a residential complex located in the 8000 block of Lake Street in Lower Lake.
At approximately 6:15 p.m., Moncivaiz was located behind the complex and taken into custody without incident, according to Brooks.
Brooks said Moncivaiz was arrested for robbery, burglary, being armed in the commission of a felony, threatening crime with the intent to terrorize and conspiracy.
Moncivaiz was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked early Friday morning. His bail is currently set at $1 million, according to jail records.
This investigation is ongoing and anyone who may have information regarding this case, or the identity of the one remaining suspect, is encouraged to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.
In the last two weeks the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has responded to six robberies, Brooks said. All six of the robberies were centered on the theft of marijuana.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office expects this trend to continue through the height of the marijuana harvest season, Brooks said.