The former head of the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department’s drug interdiction team pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion under “color of law,” falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion. Ex-Sgt. Brendan “Jacy” Tatum and his former partner, Joseph Huffaker, were both indicted by a federal grand jury […]
Theft
Posted inNews
Thieves Are Stealing California’s Scarce Water for Illegal Cannabis Farms
One day last spring, water pressure in pipelines suddenly crashed In the Antelope Valley, setting off alarms. Demand had inexplicably spiked, swelling to three and half times normal. Water mains broke open, and storage tanks were drawn down to dangerous levels. The emergency was so dire in the water-stressed desert area of Hi Vista, between […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Payouts in the Park
As the Journal went to press Feb. 25, the city of Rohnert Park was set to approve nearly $1.5 million in payments to settle multiple lawsuits alleging its police force conspired to steal cannabis and cash during illegal traffic stops. The settlements include $287,500 to be paid to Huedell Freeman, a cannabis farmer based in […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Following Eureka’s Lead
When researching our Jan. 24 cover story “We’re Coming Home” about the city of Eureka returning Duluwat Island to the Wiyot Tribe 159 years after it was stolen, we came across a beautiful quote in a 1988 Humboldt Historian article about the island and the egret rookery on its western shore. “The egrets, in graceful […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Reckoning in Rohnert Park
It seems something was very rotten in the city of Rohnert Park. Lawyers representing the city agreed Aug. 20 to pay a Texas man $415,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that Rohnert Park police unlawfully seized 3 pounds of legal marijuana during a 2017 traffic stop outside city limits. The settlement came just a […]
Posted inNews
‘Highway Robbery:’ Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash
Huedell Freeman was heading south on U.S. Highway 101 through Cloverdale and was just over the Sonoma County line when he said a police squad car flipped a U-turn across a 25-foot grass median and pulled up behind him with lights flashing. Freeman said he was carrying 47 pounds of marijuana in his rental car […]
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Red Handed
The Eureka Police Department has a new weapon in its arsenal to combat serial shoplifters: The threat of jail time. Dogged by complaints that, due to realignment and a crowded jail, shoplifters are often just booked and immediately released to offend again, EPD announced last week that it will work with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s […]
Posted inNews
Grinchmas: Toys for Tots Sign Vandalized
Determined thieves may have ruined Christmas for some little girls and boys this year. Dale Bridges, the paymaster for Toys for Tots, reports that the flashing signs his organization rented to encourage donations have been vandalized twice, with four industrial batteries having been removed, cables cut and a tire deliberately punctured. He estimates the financial […]
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Stop. Shop. Robbing is so 2012.
Quirkily-captioned security cam stills of local ne’er-do-wells still flutter above the cold case, but the notorious Stop and Shop — aka the “Stop and Rob” — on Wabash and B streets hasn’t called in an actual robbery for the last three years. Owner Lee Ok Boon was vague about why the store hasn’t lived up […]
Posted inNews
Big Bad Burl Biz
The New York Times has a piece this week on the despicable business of illegally sawing big hunky burl chunks off of our massive redwood trees — our elders, as the Times elegantly notes — and selling them for profit on an apparently quite healthy global market. Says the story: “The poachers, known locally as the ‘midnight […]
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Prairie Creek Scenic Byway Will Close Nights to Prevent Burl Piracy
File under: This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. Newton B. Drury Parkway, that languorous, serpentine, redwood-lined scenic bypass through Prairie Creek State Park, will now be closed dusk ’til dawn because of burl-raiding nincompoops. California State Parks announced the closure — effective Saturday at sundown — as a measure to keep people from […]