Burglaries near Clear Lake result in arrests of suspects from Sacramento, Bay Area
The Lake County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday said three people from Sacramento and one from San Leandro were arrested as suspects in multiple commercial burglaries.
The suspects were identified as 23-year-old Simeon Reed, 24-year-old Daniel Goodwin and 26-year-old Tobias Menefee, all from Sacramento. The suspect from San Leandro was identified by the sheriff's office as 30-year-old Demare Burgess.
Around 3:45 a.m., four people smashed the front door of Upper Lake Grocery, prompting the sheriff's office dispatch to receive a report of a possible burglary.
About 10 minutes later, deputies received another report of a burglary in progress. This time, the suspects were at Dollar General in Nice, which is about 5 miles away from Upper Lake.
The suspects were already gone when deputies arrived at both scenes, but the sheriff's office said a deputy stationed on the highway spotted the suspect vehicle and pulled the driver over, due to a partially obstructed rear license plate.
There were four people inside the vehicle, and once more deputies arrived, the four occupants were detained. According to the sheriff's office, a large amount of money and some merchandise were found inside the vehicle.
Deputies said the merchandise consisted of cartons of cigarettes, cigars, lottery tickets, phone chargers and other items, all of which were believed to be stolen. The sheriff's office said California Lottery investigators had to be called due to the lottery products.
Also inside the vehicle were tools, such as a crowbar, which are believed to have been used in the burglaries, the sheriff's office said.
During the investigation, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office contacted deputies and informed them they were also investigating a burglary. Mendocino County deputies arrived, and the sheriff's office said they were able to confirm some of the items were from Forks Ranch Market in Ukiah.
Lake County deputies said they also matched the vehicle and other items to a burglary being investigated by Ukiah police.
The suspects were booked into the Hill Road Correctional Facility on suspicion of burglary, vandalism and possession of stolen property.
Most of the stolen merchandise was recovered and returned to the businesses.