NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A Tuesday evening crash on Highway 29 injured two people and sent one of them to a regional trauma center with major injuries.
The two-vehicle wreck occurred at approximately 5:25 p.m. on the Napa County side of Mount St. Helena, according to the California Highway Patrol's Napa area office.
The names of the two drivers were not immediately available, but the CHP identified them as a 26-year-old Clearlake woman and a 60-year-old Santa Rosa man, both driving late model Toyotas, the models of which were not reported.
The CHP said the Clearlake driver was headed northbound on Highway 29 north of Tubbs Lane at an unknown speed when she attempted to overtake another vehicle that wasn't involved in the crash.
As she was exiting the passing lane she lost control and veered toward the southbound lane, hitting the right front of the Santa Rosa man's vehicle with the front of her Toyota, the CHP said.
The Clearlake driver had minor injuries, including lacerations, while the CHP said the driver from Santa Rosa had major injuries, among them lacerations and a fractured sternum.
An air ambulance landed nearby and transported the man to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the CHP said.
The CHP said no arrests were made.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A man convicted last month of the roadside murders of a Maine couple was sentenced to two life terms on Tuesday.
Judge Andrew Blum sentenced 32-year-old Robby Alan Beasley to two life terms without the possibility of parole for the Jan. 22, 2010, shooting deaths of Frank Maddox, 32, and his wife Yvette, 40, of Augusta, Maine.
A jury convicted Beasley on Dec. 13 of two counts of first degree murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, special allegations of committing multiple murders, personally inflicting great bodily injury on the couple and personal use of a firearm to commit the murders.
He was accused of killing the couple on the side of Morgan Valley Road near Lower Lake, believing they had stolen three pounds of marijuana from his apartment.
Beasley, originally from Maine, had brought the couple from the East Coast to work for him in his marijuana business.
Before he was sentenced, Beasley's attorney, Stephen Carter, said his client wished to make a statement to the court.
“I want to say a few things,” said Beasley, wearing a red and white Lake County Jail jumpsuit and sitting next to Carter at the defense table.
Beasley thanked Blum for a fair trial and Carter for representing him. Then he turned his comments toward his former codefendant in the case, 30-year-old Elijah Bae McKay.
McKay, who had known Beasley while growing up in Maine, had helped Beasley get started in marijuana growing in Lake County, and testified against him at his trial.
McKay had told the court that he had loaned Beasley a 9 millimeter pistol that was used to shoot the Maddoxes to death and had helped Beasley dispose of evidence afterward.
“Elijah McKay is a pathological liar,” Beasley said.
Beasley said that McKay lied about giving him the 9 millimeter handgun, and that McKay had not had the gun at his house but kept it in his marijuana garden, which conflicted with McKay's statements on the stand.
McKay's statement that there had been a birthday cake at his brother's birthday party on the night of the murders, when McKay had said he had gone to pick up Beasley, also was a lie, Beasley maintained.
Facing pressure due to the potential for a prison sentence, as well as threats that his fiancee would be arrested and their young son taken into state custody, Beasley said McKay lied and was rewarded by the prosecution.
Beasley said he and McKay had been enemies throughout high school due to a fight between McKay and Beasley's younger brother.
In his written statement to the court, which was included in the Probation Department report, Beasley said he hadn't talked to McKay until 2005, when McKay came back to the East Coast for a visit. McKay, he said, was looking for a ride back to California and Beasley, who had been laid off, agreed to drive him.
Beasley said he returned home and it was in the summer of 2008 that McKay called him to ask for help, because his partner in the marijuana business had been arrested. Beasley said his probation with the state of Maine was violated after that point.
In court on Tuesday, Beasley accused McKay of fabricating a conversation he testified that the two of them had on Jan. 20, 2010, in which they discussed scaring the Maddoxes rather than Beasley killing them.
Addressing the prosecution, McKay said, “If you don't care about the truth, who does? Because Elijah McKay lied to everybody.”
He insisted McKay was a sociopath who can't tell the truth. “The truth is, I was wrongly convicted based on lies and manipulation, not truth and facts,” said Beasley.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe said the Probation Department's report – which proposed the sentence Blum ultimately delivered – “adequately and thoroughly covers” the case, and he agreed with its recommendations.
“Inasmuch as it's not sworn, I will choose not to address the defendant's statement,” Grothe said.
Blum found that there were no factors in mitigation in Beasley's case, as the crimes involved great violence, he had previous convictions and a prison term, his convictions had become increasingly violent and his past performance on parole or probation was not satisfactory.
Blum sentenced Beasley to a term of life without the possibility of parole for the murder of each of the Maddoxes, to be served consecutively.
The additional 23 years, which Beasley must serve first before beginning the life prison terms, was for the various enhancements for which he had been convicted. Beasley also was ordered to pay restitution and fines.
Carter filed an appeal of Beasley's conviction during the Tuesday afternoon sentencing.
Beasley had three other cases pending, two of them fugitive complaints from Maine. Grothe moved to dismiss all of those additional cases, suggesting that the state of Maine could work with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to determine how to proceed. Blum accepted the motion to dismiss.
The sentencing hearing took just under 20 minutes before Beasley was remanded into custody and taken from the courtroom.
No family members of the Maddoxes were present to deliver victim impact statements. Instead, such a statement from Frank Maddox's younger sister, Alicia, was included in the Probation Department report.
She wrote of her brother, “I know many people may not be able to see past the way his character has been painted, his history, or some activities that he may or may not have been engaged in, but I see him for who he really was. My Big Brother.”
She said her older brother was more involved than most brothers, “because he was always trying to fill our father's shoes.”
She added, “He was the lighthouse in our childhood when my father died, and again when our mother died when we were just reaching adulthood.”
He also supported her when the father of her three children died. “Frank was more than an ordinary guy, he was an extraordinary brother; he was my confidant, my hero, my best friend and the last family I had left in this world.”
She said he wasn't a saint, but neither was he “a devil, coward or bad man.” He leaves behind four children and five nieces and nephews, she said.
Frank Maddox came to California to start a new life, according to his sister. He grew up in the gardening business and believed he was going to have legitimate job. She said Beasley lured him and his wife to their deaths with lies.
Alicia Maddox told Lake County News that her family thanked all of those who put in the hard work to put Beasley away, and shared a video tribute she made for him, which can be seen below.
In her comments she addressed Beasley, stating, “you took the only family I had left in this world, and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone, but years will soon pass and you will find yourself without anyone you started your life with, friends and family will have to cope and move on without you. life will go on for them. And someday I hope you finally ask yourself if taking them from us was worth it, if your three pounds were worth three lives."
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several small and moderately sized earthquakes were reported around Lake County on Tuesday morning.
The quakes occurred over a three-hour period in the Cobb and Kelseyville areas, according to the US Geological Survey.
The first, and largest, of the quakes, measuring 3.1 in magnitude, occurred just before 7:30 a.m. two miles west southwest of Anderson Springs, five miles east southeast of The Geysers geothermal steamfield and five miles south of Cobb, at a depth of just under a mile, the US Geological Survey reported.
Then, from 10:32 a.m. to 10:36 a.m., three small quakes – measuring 2.6, 2.5 and 2.9 in magnitude, respectively – were reported between three and four miles south southeast of Soda Bay, the survey said.
The US Geological Survey said the quakes ranged in depth from 1.7 to 2.9 miles.
The agency had received 31 shake reports from Clearlake, Kelseyville and even Morgan Hill by noon on Tuesday regarding the 2.9-magnitude quake near Soda Bay.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Clearlake Oaks man injured in a collision in late November has died of his injuries.
Robert Roberts, 80, of Clearlake Oaks died on Dec. 14 of injuries he sustained in a crash on Nov. 20, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds.
Roberts had been involved in a head-on crash at the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 53, known as the “Y,” according to the CHP.
Roberts was driving a 2002 Chevrolet S-10 pickup with 64-year-old Mary Roberts, also of Clearlake Oaks, as his passenger when they were hit head-on by a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero driven eastbound by Leslie Uboldi Jr., 52, of Eureka, the CHP reported.
Uboldi had failed to stop for the intersection's stop sign and hit Roberts' pickup while traveling at about 60 miles per hour, according to the CHP report. The force of the crash ejected Mary Roberts, who was not wearing a seat belt, from Roberts' pickup.
Originally, Roberts had been taken to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake for treatment of major injuries, the CHP said.
Reynolds said Roberts had later been taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and then, on Dec. 6, was transferred to a Cloverdale health care facility, where he died.
Reynolds did not have information on whether charges might be brought in the case.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Western Air Defense Sector will conduct air defense exercise Felix Hawk over the Cloverdale area on Thursday, Jan. 10.
Felix Hawk is designed to test WADS’ intercept and identification procedures for a variety of scenarios involving possible hostile aircraft.
Residents in the Cloverdale and Garberville areas may observe F-16 aircraft, C-21, and Cessna 182 aircraft participating in the exercise between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
These training flights are coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.
In the event of inclement weather the exercise will be canceled.
These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure WADS’s rapid response capability.
WADS has conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout the western region since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command’s response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
WADS and its eastern counterpart – Eastern Air Defense Sector in Rome, N.Y. – are part of the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.
CONR, as the continental United States geographical component of the bi-national command NORAD, provides airspace surveillance and control, and directs air sovereignty activities for the CONUS region. CONR and its assigned Air Force assets throughout the country ensure air safety and security against potential air threats.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD fighters have responded to more than 5,000 possible air threats in the United States, Canada and Alaska, and have flown more than 62,500 sorties with the support of Airborne Warning and Control System and air-to-air-refueling aircraft.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local law enforcement officials are interviewing a woman who they believe was the driver in a fatal hit and run collision on Tuesday morning.
The crash, which took place at about 7:45 a.m. on Highway 29 south of Lower Lake, claimed the life of a bicyclist, as Lake County News has reported.
Not long after the crash, the California Highway Patrol had put out a request to the community for assistance in finding a black SUV believed to have been involved.
A short time later, CHP Officer Kory Reynolds, who was at the scene late Tuesday morning, told Lake County News that the CHP had located the driver who they believed was involved.
A woman had gone to the Clearlake Police Department at around 9:30 a.m. to report that she thought she may have hit someone. She initially thought she had hit a deer, but then saw posts on Facebook about a person being hit on the road, the CHP reported.
The woman was reported to have been driving a burgundy-colored Chevy Tahoe.
Reynolds said CHP officers were interviewing the woman.
He said additional details about the incident would be made available as soon as possible.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lower Lake man who died Tuesday morning after being hit by two separate vehicles while riding his bicycle along a foggy stretch of Highway 29 has been identified.
Lloyd Lee Knight, 59, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crashes, which occurred minutes apart north of Clayton Creek Road Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said Knight was riding his bicycle northbound at about 7:44 a.m. when he was hit by a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban driven by 25-year-old Aimee Christine Hubbard of Clearlake.
Knight was knocked into the northbound lane and as he was getting up he was hit again, this time by a 2008 Prius driven by John Weeks, 62, of Hidden Valley Lake, the CHP said.
Hubbard is alleged to have left the scene but reported to the Clearlake Police Department later on Tuesday that she had been involved in the crash, according to the CHP.
The CHP arrested Hubbard on Tuesday on a charge of hit and run causing injury or death. Her bail was set at $50,000. Hubbard later posted the required percentage of bail and was released from the Lake County Jail.
The two crashes remain under investigation, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – In response to an exposed legal anomaly and an outdated rape statute that resulted in an overturned rape conviction, Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chair of the California Women's Caucus, introduced SB 59.
The bill is also co-authored by twelve other senators, including pro tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and public safety chair Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley).
“Rape is a violent crime that should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Sen. Evans. “Justice cannot be conditioned on the victim’s marital status.”
Under an 1870s provision that upheld the rights of a married victim, but not those of others, the Second District Court of Appeal last week overturned the rape conviction of Julio Morales.
In 2009 Morales impersonated his female victim’s boyfriend in order to have sex with her while she was sleeping.
Because jury instruction was unclear and the current law only allows someone to be convicted of rape for impersonating a spouse, but is silent about the impersonation of other intimate partners, the conviction was overturned on the technicality.
SB 59 would amend Penal Code section 261(a)(5) by exchanging the word “spouse” for the term “sexually intimate partner.”
Doing so would expand the definition to include single individuals as well as domestic partners and other individuals currently excluded by “spouse”.
“This is about equality in the law. This is about justice for all. And it’s past time this legislative body correct an arcane law that could let a rapist go free on an outdated statue that provides neither,” Evans said.
Evans represents the Second Senatorial District, including all or portions of the counties of Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Marin and Sonoma.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A bicyclist riding near Lower Lake on Tuesday morning was killed in a hit and run crash, and law enforcement officials are asking for the community's help in locating the suspect vehicle.
The incident occurred at about 7:45 a.m. on Highway 29 near the Jonas Oil gas station south of Lower Lake, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Firefighters arriving at the scene confirmed that the crash victim had died, according to radio traffic.
CHP Officer Kory Reynolds confirmed that the crash had resulted in a death.
He said the CHP was asking for the community's help in locating the suspect vehicle, a black Chevrolet Suburban with right front end damage.
Reynolds asked anyone with information about the crash to call the CHP dispatch at 707-467-4000.
Heavy fog in the area of Highway 29 and Spruce Grove Road North also had nearly led to several other collisions, according to reports from the scene.
At around 8:45 a.m. Caltrans took over the closure of the nearby stretch of Highway 29, estimated to be closed for up to two hours.
Reynolds said Highway 29 was closed from Highway 53 to Spruce Grove Road North, with all traffic being diverted to alternate routes.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man facing allegations of sexual abuse of a minor was in court for arraignment on Tuesday.
David Edward Carr, 50, was in Judge Andrew Blum's courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
Carr was arrested by a Lake County Sheriff's deputy last Saturday, Jan. 5, on several felony charges, among them rape, incest and sodomy, according to his booking sheet.
However, Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg said the only charge against Carr now is continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14.
Borg would offer only limited details about Carr's case, now in its early stages, out of fairness considerations.
He said the charge was for one young victim, and revolved around acts which allegedly began in 2006 and continued until 2010.
The District Attorney's Office reported that, if convicted, Carr could face 16 years in prison.
Carr is being held in the Lake County Jail on $750,000 bail.
On Tuesday, Blum chose to leave Carr's bail at that enhanced amount.
Blum set Carr's next court appearance for 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, before Judge Richard Martin.
Attorney Doug Rhoades was appointed Tuesday to represent Carr in his case.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol said that a bicyclist killed along Highway 29 Tuesday morning was hit by two different vehicles before succumbing to his injuries, with a Clearlake woman arrested later in the day for allegedly leaving the crash scene.
The bicyclist who was the victim of the crashes was a 59-year-old Lower Lake man whose name CHP did not release Tuesday evening.
The CHP also said that it arrested Aimee Christine Hubbard, 25, of Clearlake, the first motorist who hit the man before she allegedly left the scene.
A second driver, John Weeks, 62, of Hidden Valley Lake, also hit the bicyclist, who was pronounced dead at the crash site, according to the CHP.
The CHP report said the bicyclist was riding a Fuji 24 speed northbound on Highway 29, north of Clayton Creek Road at 7:44 a.m., when the visibility was reduced due to fog.
Hubbard was driving northbound in a 1999 Chevy Suburban, and as she passed she struck the man, who fell to the ground in the northbound lane, according to the CHP.
Two witnesses in separate vehicles were driving northbound approaching the crash scene and when they saw the man in the lane they were able to pull over to the shoulder, the CHP said.
The CHP said that as both witnesses were going back toward the bicyclist to help him, they saw him trying to get up.
Weeks was driving northbound in a 2008 Toyota Prius approaching the scene, and he failed to avoid hitting the bicycle or the rider in the roadway, the CHP reported.
During this time, Hubbard left the scene in her vehicle. The CHP said that about an hour and a half later, Hubbard went to the Clearlake Police Department and said she had been involved in the crash.
The bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, according to radio reports Tuesday morning.
Due to fog in the area, several other collisions were narrowly avoided, fire radio traffic had indicated.
Highway 29 was closed for several hours while officers worked at the scene gathering evidence on Tuesday. The CHP reported that the highway was reopened at about 2 p.m.
Hubbard, a nursing assistant, was booked into the Lake County Jail on Tuesday evening on a charge of hit and run causing injury or death. Her bail was set at $50,000.
The CHP said both the collision between Hubbard and the bicycle and the subsequent crash involving Weeks remain under investigation.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – After a quarter century serving Lake County, a local businessman is retiring following the sale of his family’s business.
John Norcio spent his last day at work on Dec. 31 at the Lakeport McDonald’s on Todd Road, which he and his wife, Pat, had owned for 25 years.
Norcio, 65, said he sold the restaurant to a Vacaville-based businessman who also owns the Clearlake McDonald’s and a number of others around the Bay Area.
Business has remained strong despite the tough economy, Norcio said.
“We had a good value product. A lot of customers recognized that,” Norcio said. “Our business was very solid.”
The Lakeport restaurant was known for the quality of its service and employees.
As to why he chose to sell the business and retire, “I just decided it was time to travel and just enjoy life,” said Norcio.
In retirement, he and Pat said they plan to stay in Lake County.
The Norcios have been fixtures in the community, donating generously to a wide variety of local organizations and charities.
“I wish we knew all the things he did. He’s done so much,” said Lake County Chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton.
Norcio tends not to brag about his efforts, so Fulton helped fill in some of he and his wife’s accomplishments.
Fulton pointed to his longtime membership on the chamber board and chamber presidency in 1994, he and Pat’s support of youth sports and their annual “McBoo Night” Halloween costume contest, and their continuing sponsorship of the Stars of Lake County Community Awards Program.
John Norcio also is a longtime Lakeport Rotary Club member.
Fulton said the Norcios have been involved with the kinds of efforts that bring the community together.
One of the family’s goals was always to give back to the community, John Norcio said.
“The community treated us very well,” he said.
He added, “It’s a two way street in business,” noting if you do for the community, its members will do for you.
Norcio began with McDonald’s 49 years ago, in 1964.
Then a 16 year old living in San Jose, the young Norcio needed a part-time job because he wanted a car.
He and a friend met the man who had purchased the local McDonald’s franchise, and the owner offered the teens jobs.
Norcio didn’t know what McDonald’s was. At that time, “McDonald’s was relatively new in the San Jose area,” Norcio recalled.
He accepted the job, and would spend 24 years working in a McDonald’s in the Bay Area before buying the Lakeport store and moving to Lake County. His first day on the job in Lakeport was Feb. 1, 1988.
Pat kept busy on the home front, raising the couple’s two children, Nick and Kim, and volunteering. Nick later would be involved in running the Lakeport store, working as its manager.
The Norcios treated their employees like family, so when John Norcio delivered the news about retirement, “They were sad to see us go,” he said. “There was a lot of emotion.”
Norcio said he’s looking forward to spending time riding a motorcycle he recently bought, which he took for a 7,200-mile trip last year.
He and Pat enjoy taking cruises, and visiting with daughter Kim and their grandson in San Jose. They’re also looking forward to seeing more of their friends.
As for a parting piece of advice to local business owners on how to keep going and stay successful, Norcio offered a simple tip.
“Get involved. Pay it back,” he said.
The Norcios have written a thank you letter to the community. Read it here: http://bit.ly/ZkxfLj .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
