Mendocino County Today: Thursday, August 21, 2014

• Fire Contained
• Writing Campaign
• Service Lack
• Catch of the Day
• Uncle Pedo
• Dirty Dirt
• DNA Stabber
• Courtroom Privileges
• Good Marriage
• News Buildings
• Third Person
• Protest Hijack
• ZIM Blockade
• Sheriff's Response

AS OF AUGUST 20 at 6:30pm the Lodge Wilderness Fire was holding at 12,535 total acres and was up to 95% contained, about three frantic and very exhausting weeks after the lightning-strike that started it. No structures are threatened. No new injuries. The firefighting effort continues to wind down and has moved into final “mop up” stage with 14 engines and 13 clean-up crews along with 10 bulldozers, 1 helicopter, 11 water tenders and 366 remaining, and probably exhausted, firefighters. The three-week long firefighting effort is estimated to have cost almost $40 million, probably more by the time it’s over. On Tuesday evening CalFire reported that “Crews continue mopping up and looking for hot spots within the contingency lines; steep terrain is making access difficult. Interior portions of the fire will continue to burn and may produce smoke for an extended period of time in the Ukiah Valley. Fire Suppression Repair and Rehabilitation will continue throughout the fire area. Resources continue to be released from the fire to other incidents or back to their home units.”

AVA REPORTER WILL PARRISH has just launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $5,500 for a series of 15-20 in-depth articles he is writing taking on California's destructive water politics in the context of the state's epic drought. He will serialize these pieces weekly in the AVA and also freelance some of them to regional and national publications. Supporting Will in this project will allow him to focus on journalism full-time as he focuses his considerable talent on these pressing issues.

For more about this project, including how to donate, check out this link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/resistance-to-watershed-destruction-in-california/

MENDOCINO COUNTY GIVES BACK $750k IN MENTAL HEALTH PATIENT FUNDS

To: Mental Health Board

If you google on and read A Complex Case: Public Mental Health Delivery and Financing in California, you will see that the $750,000 of mental health patient money that the County was told in July they have to return to the state, is because Mendocino County Mental Health did not provide all the services to mental health patients that the state gave them the money to do. If the County had provided services to mental health patients the County would have been able to bill for an additional $750,000 in Medi-Cal funds from the federal government. The total loss to the County for not providing desperately needed services to mental health patients is $1.5M. Why wasn't this money used for desperately needed 24/7 Crisis Residential Treatment Centers? How many times has this happened in the past and why did County Mental Health and their ASOs Ortner and RQMS do this to mental heath patients?

Sonya Nesch, Comptche

CATCH OF THE DAY, August 20, 2014

JACOBY ANDERSON, Stockton. Failure to appear.

JAMES ANDERSON, Willits. Drunk in public. Probation revocation.

CHARLES BIVEN, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

RICKIE CURTIS, Willits. Drunk in public.

LATHINA DeCOSTA, Clearlake. Contempt of court.

RAUL DE LOS SANTOS, Ukiah. Robbery, carjacking, vehicle theft, Probation revocation.

JAMES GARDNER III, Fort Bragg. Vehicle theft, driving without a license, probation revocation, possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest. (Picture Not available.)

HUGH HOWE, Auburn. Drunk in public.

ZACKERY LAWSON, Igo. Vehicle theft, receipt of stolen property, DUI, Probation revocation. (Photo not available.)

STUART MARGOLIN, Trinidad. Pot cultivation, processing, sale, transportation, furnishing.

HARVEY McGLOTHLIN, Drunk in public.

DANIEL MEDINA, Fort Bragg. Lewd act on child or dependent person, three or more acts of substantial sexual conduct with a child under age 14 in not less than three months, penetration by foreign object by force, violence, duress, menace, etc. (See below.)

KEVIN NORTON, Willits. Domestic battery, evasion, reckless driving.

ALEXANDRIA RODRIGUEZ, Fort Bragg. DUI-Drugs.

KATIE SANCHEZ, Ukiah. Robbery, carjacking, vehicle theft.

EMRYS SCOTT, Redwood Valley. Pot cultivation, processing, sale, possession of meth, possession of assault weapon, crimes while out on bail.

FREYJA SCOTT, Redwood Valley. Pot cultivation, processing, sale, possession of assault weapon, armed with firearm.

NICOLE WRIGHT, Ukiah. Forgery, receipt of stolen property.

IN JULY OF 2014, Detectives with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation into the possible sexual abuse of a female juvenile. The juvenile reported that she had been sexually abused by a family member, Daniel Medina, 34, of Fort Bragg, a resident of Cleone in the 32000 block of Mill Creek Drive, for the past 7 years. The alleged sexual abuse took place, predominately in the city of Fort Bragg, with two incidents recently occurring in the jurisdiction of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. On August 19, 2014, Sheriff's Detectives served a search warrant at Medina's residence off of West Street in Fort Bragg. Medina was transported to the Sheriff's Office Substation where he was interviewed and ultimately arrested. Medina was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked for lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, the continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and penetration with a foreign object. Medina's bail was set at $200,000.

WILLITS-BASED ENVIROS were in court Tuesday seeking a court order restraining Caltrans from removing 900,000 cubic yards of fill dirt from an old mill site and log deck north of Willits for the bypass project. That site, formerly owned by Louisiana-Pacific, is now owned by Mendocino Forest Products. The enviros say the parties involved, including the County of Mendocino, did not properly evaluate the environmental impact of what amounts to a major dirt haul.

A SUSPECT HAS BEEN ARRESTED in the 2012 stabbing death of a homeless woman in Santa Rosa, police said Wednesday. Jessy Zetino, 22, of Santa Rosa was taken into custody Tuesday after DNA evidence tied him to the slaying of 24-year-old Michela Wooldridge, police said. Wooldridge, who had recently moved to Santa Rosa from Humboldt County, was found lying in the driveway of a business on the 1200 block of Fourth Street about 5:20 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2012. She had been stabbed in the chest numerous times. The motive for the attack hasn't been established, and there were no signs that Wooldridge had been robbed or sexually assaulted, police said. The two did not appear to know each other before the slaying, officials said. Zetino frequented the area where Wooldridge was killed and had been at a party in the area on Halloween, the night before she was found, authorities said. He is being held without bail at Sonoma County Jail.

CORRECTION: In Bruce McEwen's report on the Joan Rainville saga, Ms. Rainville, we now learn, was not taken into custody until early June at the time of her conviction for felony assault. She had not been in custody prior. She's being credited with 85 days served, with the exact sentence due to be clarified on September 9th. As for DA spokesman Mike Geniella's “reserved seating,” Geniella simply showed up early and took a seat. He does not enjoy special courtroom privileges.

CALL IT A GOOD MARRIAGE

Call it a good marriage -

For no one ever questioned

Her warmth, his masculinity,

Their interlocking views;

Except one stray graphologist

Who frowned in speculation

At her h's and her s's,

His p's and w's.

Though few would still subscribe

To the monogamic axiom

That strife below the hip-bones

Need not estrange the heart,

Call it a good marriage:

More drew those two together,

Despite a lack of children,

Than pulled them apart.

Call it a good marriage:

They never fought in public,

They acted circumspectly

And faced the world with pride;

Thus the hazards of their love-bed

Were none of our damned business -

Till as jurymen we sat on

Two deaths by suicide.

— Robert Graves

DIGITAL FIRST has gone public with sales of their buildings, and yes such sale did include the San Jose Mercury News (already sold) and does include the Ukiah Daily Journal, Fort Bragg Advocate-Beacon, Lakeport, Eureka, Chico, Paradise and more…

DIGITAL FIRST? It's the conglomerate that owns the papers in Ukiah, Willits, and the Fort Bragg-Mendo mongrel.

BUT THERE WAS NO HARSHNESS in the eyes which, looking at the world from under their tawny eyebrows, gave the impression of a man ever alert to greet a redeeming instinct in others but often disappointed. He lived at a little distance from his body, regarding his own acts with doubtful side-glances. He had an odd autobiographical habit which led him to compose in his mind from time to time a short sentence about himself containing a subject in the third person and a predicate in the past tense.

— James Joyce, A Painful Case

AGITATORS HAVE HIJACKED FERGUSON PROTESTS

A handful of outside troublemakers and local young men in bandanas have distracted the media from the real story—the fate of Michael Brown.

FERGUSON, Missouri — Among the protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, a small group is causing most of the trouble, drawing attention away from the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown and toward the captivating images of tear gas smoke, fleeing residents and cops in battle gear that have become part of a huge international news story.

On Monday night the agitators had their way once again.

Joey Johnson, a member of the Revolution Club of Chicago, did his best to incite a violent reaction from police not far from a group of men who worked to hold back others. After hours of walking in long, oval circles on sidewalks along West Florissant Avenue, (protesters weren’t allowed in the road by police until their numbers grew too great) a group of about 1,000 marchers approached a line of police in newly fallen darkness. Once there, in front of the largest gathering of media yet, some from the community worked to prevent confrontation. Johnson worked to do the opposite.

There was a scuffle near the front line of police in SWAT gear that nearly prompted the violent reaction many have come to expect after this chaotic week, and Johnson was in the middle of it. When he came out, Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman who has been documenting the protests and was arrested for “unlawful assembly,” was standing over Johnson. French did not look pleased.

The Revolution Club of Chicago, in concert with the Revolutionary Communist Party, has been in Ferguson since at least Wednesday. They aren’t the only ones who have been aggressive with police, but, perhaps as a response to the arrest of two of its members Monday afternoon, Johnson felt he had a point to make.

But he wasn’t the only one. The night once again ended in smoky chaos as a small group of protesters egged on police to the point of reaction. Some in that group were clearly outsiders. Others were young men from the area, their faces covered in bandanas, ready for anonymous rampage.

Ronald Harris, who lives not far from Ferguson Market and Liquor, considers himself part of the younger generation despite his 41 years. He said there are two groups of local protesters, divided by age.

“The older group, they’re all about prayers and peaceful marching. [They can] come out and march until their feet turn to blisters, but at night, keep your women and children at home,” he said, adding that the violence and clashes with police over the past week have been seen as acceptable among his friends. “Our generation is the one getting pulled over by police, getting harassed by police, getting killed by police.

“We’re out here every day.”

And they’ll continue to be.

“People are tired of this system of oppression,” he said.

That system, Harris said, on Monday extended to when, where and how protesters were allowed express their displeasure with police.

Monday brought even more restrictions for protest zone than has existed since Brown’s death last Saturday. And while police have rightfully been criticized for their heavy-handed approach to the protests that have gone on since Brown’s death, the intelligence they’ve gathered regarding some of the more riotous protesters has been correct. Those who wish to do physical harm to law enforcement are small in number, and subversive in tactics.

Eric Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party was among them. “I have an ironic problem,” he said. “I can’t stand on my own two feet. I have to keep moving.” Hundreds of other protesters also had to keep moving or face arrest, so they marched. They went up and down Florissant, where demonstrations were at first riotous, then jubilant after a security takeover by Capt. Ron Johnson and his Missouri State Highway Patrol, and finally violent again, with residents and protesters fleeing from police tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Still, the residents of Ferguson who have been enraged over Brown’s killing went home Monday night without getting what they wanted: the arrest and indictment of the officer who shot and killed Brown, Darren Wilson.

“We want Darren Wilson,” some shouted at police just before the multiple rounds of tear gas that ended Monday night’s protest were fired.

The police tactics employed Monday night were to control and contain, although there was no sign of the National Guard. Protesters were restricted to sidewalks, and journalists once again were confined to an area derisively referred to as “the playpen,” an area that included the parking lot of Ferguson Market and Liquor and a patch of grass in front of the McDonald’s where last week police pulled a catch and release on reporters Wesley Lowery and Ryan Reilly. The threats to members of the media continued Monday, culminating with the arrest and release of Getty Images photographer Scott Olson. At the QuikTrip gas station, broadcast news crews were told to leave Monday afternoon, and later in the evening CNN’s Don Lemon was threatened with arrest while reporting live.

The handling of the press, while increased in its forcefulness in the last two days, is consistent with the media’s treatment over the past week. Ostensibly for their own safety, police at times have refused access to the main protest zone, threatening arrest if journalists are found behind the lines.

But as the tear gas canisters were being fired Monday night, the number of protesters was nearly equaled by photographers in gas masks and smartphone-wielding reporters. Once again the focus of Tuesday’s papers and late Monday news stories focused on the sideshow, and not the burning questions surrounding the death of a young man who would have entered his second week of college today.

(Courtesy, thedailybeast.com)

WE BLOCKED THE BOAT! ZIM Ship Forced To Stay At Sea!

Thousands of community members rally and march from the West Oakland BART station and down Mandela Parkway to the Port of Oakland to stop the Israeli ZIM ship from docking. This action was part of an international show of solidarity with the people of Palestine. Speakers included Reem Assil and Mohamed Shehk of the Arab Resource and Organizing Committee, Monadel Herzallah of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Linda Ereikat and Sameh Ayesh of the Arab Youth Organization, Clarence Thomas of ILWU, Samantha Liapes from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and Lisa Grey-Garcia aka "Tiny" from Poor News Network. Activists hope this action will serve as a catalyst for the international BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement. — Joseph Thomas (Ed note/Warning, this video is over 45 minutes long and features a lot of shouting and marching with poor audio quality.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7eOtVD9S0o&feature=youtu.be&list=UUDSqAm7Z6AOAWqlpVfH9t6w

THIS HEADLINE and story lede appears today in the Press Democrat:

Video of arrest near Guerneville spreads online
 — A video clip of a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy punching and trying to restrain a Cotati man who was on the ground near Guerneville has spread rapidly through social media.

* * *

THE SOCO Sheriff's Department wasted no time responding: from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department Facebook page...

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is providing this information at this time because of a short video clip, distributed on the web, which depicts a fleeting portion of an arrest that took place over the weekend. This video clip has generated some media inquiries. It is a brief portion of the event and, if taken out of context, does not accurately represent the entire contact. It is important that the totality of the circumstances surrounding the contact is provided to the public for greater understanding of the information known at the event.

On Saturday August 16, 2014 at about 6:13PM, Deputies were dispatched to a report of a man down on the ground near the Stumptown Brewery and their Beer Revival and BBQ Festival. The Reporting Party stated that he was out cold and probably going to get run over.

The 911 center dispatched Fire and Paramedics first. Then two deputies as is expected in a report of a “Man Down”. Deputies arrived within six minutes at about the same time as the Russian River Fire Department.

Initially they could not find the man, but soon they were able to locate him laying down along the roadway behind a red car. The Fire Department evaluated the man medically released him. He was identified as Jonathan Carrozzo, 31 year old from Cotati. He was very drunk and had laid down on the road to rest.

Deputies determined that Carrozzo was too intoxicated to care for his own safety. Although he could have been arrested, they offered to release him to the care of a sober adult. Carrozzo suggested his friend who was in the area as a person who could collect him. The Deputies called the friend from his (Carrozzo’s) cell phone. Friend was coming from their campsite nearby. Deputies stayed with Carrozzo for 12 minutes after calling his friend.

While waiting they all engaged in idle conversation. For some unknown reason, Carrozzo became irritated. They repeatedly told Carrozzo to stay seated on the hood of the car so that he wouldn’t stumble into traffic.

Unprovoked Carrozzo hostilely talked about recent events in Ferguson, Missouri. He continued to insult the Deputies with profanities. He asked them if they drove tanks and yelled an obscene explicative. Carrozzo stood up, took a fighting stance, clenched his fists and challenged them yelling, “Let’s go!”

Since Carrozzo was drunk, hostile and prepared to fight with them, it was necessary that he be restrained in handcuffs. He was no longer displaying suitable behavior to be released to the care of another. A Deputy grabbed Carrozzo’s wrist to handcuff him, for the Deputies’ and Carrozzo’s safety, and detain him. Carrozzo pulled away from his grasp, so the Deputy grabbed his wrist again and took him to the ground.

Carrozzo violently physically resisted. Both Deputies struggled but could not control him. Carrozzo kept reaching into his waistband and not complying with the orders to put his hands behind his back and stop resisting.

During the melee, one of the Deputies radioed for backup as Carrozzo was fighting with them and they couldn’t control him. The Dispatcher sent emergency back-up to assist the deputies. Eventually Carrozzo was controlled and handcuffed. He was under arrest and transported to the River Substation.

The deputies looked for witnesses in the area but did not locate anyone. No one came forward at the time.

Carrozzo was contrite and apologized profusely for his behavior. He apologized after he was in handcuffs, while at the substation and again in jail. He admitted he provoked the Deputies with his belligerent tirade and actions.

He was transported to the Sonoma County Main Jail where he was booked for violation of 148(a) PC – Resisting Arrest and 647(f) – Disorderly Conduct: Public Intoxication.

Deputies took photographs of Carrozzo to document his injuries, in accordance with the Use of Force policy. Carrozzo`s right arm was swollen in the area of the wrist and he had some abrasions to his right forearm. Carrozzo had some light abrasions to his left forearm as well. There was light bruising on both the left and right side of his abdomen. He had red marks on his upper chest below the neck and left shoulder. Carrozzo had few light red marks on his mid-back.

Three Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Sergeants spoke with Carrozzo separately since his arrest. He again apologized for his conduct, attitude and provocation. Carrozzo stated to each of them, and later to Sheriff’s Administration, that he did not want to file any type complaint against the deputies as he felt he was in the wrong with his behavior and actions.

The man who recorded the incident reported it to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. He was contacted by sergeants and provided a copy of the recording. The video was reviewed. The recording is 21 seconds in length and did not capture the events leading up to and following to altercation.

On the recording one can easily hear the deputies yelling commands: “Stop Resisting!”, “Give me your hands!” and “Show me your hands”. On the recording one can see a Deputy trapped on the ground at Carrozzo’s head, under bushes on a slope. Another Deputy is astride Carrozzo’s lower legs. He delivers a strike to his upper thigh one to his face. Carrozzo is still resisting and not under control during the video. At no point in the video clip is Carrozzo handcuffed or compliant.

The Deputies had prepared to release the intoxicated Carrozzo into the care of a friend. Instead he chose to try to physically fight them, thus he was subject to arrest. They used forced to effect the lawful arrest. Carrozzo was given ample opportunity to comply with the commands of the Deputies. He later apologized for instigating the whole conflict by his actions and behavior.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office personnel have reviewed the report, all recordings, dispatch tapes, and the video from the passerby. The events documented by the deputies in their reports are consistent with the actions in the video. Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office will continue to review this event to insure that our Deputies acted in accordance with agency policies and procedures.

Report #140816-026

Prepared by Sergeant Cecile Focha, 
Media Relations/PIO