CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Two Sonoma County men were arrested during the Clayton fire last week for stealing equipment from United States Forest Service firefighters who were working to contain the blaze.
Larry Robert Hunter, 52, of Sonoma and 47-year-old Paul Owen Albini, both of Sonoma, were arrested in the case, according to Clearlake Police Sgt. Tim Hobbs.
At 9:45 a.m. Wednesday the Clearlake Police Department received a transferred call from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch center regarding a theft at the Eastlake Landfill just outside the city of Clearlake, Hobbs said.
As a courtesy to the sheriff’s office, Hobbs said Clearlake Police Officers Travis Parson and Leonardo Flores responded to the landfill and contacted several United States Forest Service Firefighters.
The firefighters took the officers to the location of their two Forest Service bulldozers, which were being used to make a containment line for the Clayton fire, about one mile south east of the city's limits, Hobbs said.
The firefighters reported numerous items were stolen from inside and on the bulldozers. Hobbs said some of the items stolen were lights off of the bulldozers, one emergency fire shelter, a chainsaw, numerous tools and a handheld GPS unit.
Hobbs said the firefighters described seeing a late 1990s white Chevrolet dual wheel pickup truck, with a bicycle in the bed and occupied by two white males in their 50s, leaving the location when they arrived.
While checking for evidence at the scene, officers located two different style shoeprints on the bulldozers and on the ground near the bulldozers that did not come from the firefighters' shoes, Hobbs said.
At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Det. Elvis Cook observed a vehicle matching the description provided by the firefighters driving west on Lakeshore Drive, conducting a traffic stop on the vehicle as it pulled up to a parked truck at Redbud Park, according to Hobbs.
Hobbs said Cook contacted the drivers of the two trucks, who were identified as Hunter and Albini.
Numerous items stolen from the bulldozer were located in plain view in the bed of the two pickup trucks and inside the cabs. Additionally, Hunter and Albini were found to be in possession of methamphetamine, Hobbs said.
Hobbs said the two Forest Service firefighters responded to Redbud Park and positively identified Hunter and Albini as the persons they observed driving away from the bulldozers in the white pickup truck.
Additionally, Hunter and Albini were wearing shoes that matched the two different style shoe prints on the bulldozers, Hobbs said.
All of the stolen items except for the handheld GPS unit were located in the pickup trucks belonging to Hunter and Albini, Hobbs added.
Hobbs said Hunter and Albini were arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for grand theft and possession of a controlled substance.
Booking records showed that each had bail set at $15,000, and both remained in custody on Monday, with their arraignments tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.
Sonoma County men arrested for theft from firefighters during Clayton fire
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On