TATER TOTS, COMFY COUCH WAYLAY PETAMULA BURGLAR: PETALUMA (AP) — Police say a would-be burglar got sidetracked by snacks and a comfy place to snooze, heating up some tater tots and taking a nap on the sofa of the house he broke into.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a homeowner in Petaluma went downstairs to find the man asleep on her sofa Thursday.
The woman rushed to her bedroom, called police and then ran out the front door. She woke up the man, who fled out the back.
Officers parked on the next street spotted him and tried to handcuff him. They used a stun gun on him twice when he resisted. Police say he wasn’t injured.
The Placerville man is being held on $30,000 bail and has a criminal history including arrests for drug and weapons possession.
LOS ANGELES POLICE HORSE SPRAYED WITH GRAFFITI: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities in Los Angeles are searching for a tagging suspect who sprayed graffiti on a police horse at Venice Beach.
Police say Charly, a horse with the Metropolitan Division’s Mounted Platoon, was tagged while on patrol Tuesday.
Charly’s hindquarters were sprayed with silver colored graffiti.
Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect.
The graffiti was removed from the horse later Tuesday evening.
LOW WATER LEVELS REVEAL LAKE TAHOE’S HIDDEN TRASH
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) — Broken bottles, rusted cans and jagged pieces of metal now cover Lake Tahoe’s drought-plagued shores.
Lake Tahoe’s water levels are a full six feet below maximum capacity, revealing trash that that has likely been embedded in mud for years.
With lake waters below their natural rim for six months now, cleanup crews have been scavenging shores to remove trash that is usually hidden.
The League to Save Lake Tahoe hits the beach several times a year for trash clean up, hoping to prevent trash dumped on the sand from entering the lake.
The crew’s trip to Lake Tahoe on Sunday yielded 170 pounds of trash.
THIRD BODY RECOVERED IN APPARENT CALIFORNIA BOATING ACCIDENT: BODEGA BAY (AP) — Searchers have recovered the body of a third person who went missing following an apparent boating accident off the Northern California coast.
The Marin Independent Journal reports that Sonoma County sheriff’s officials spotted the body of 28-year-old Ryan Viall, of Windsor, on Wednesday on the shoreline of Point Reyes National Seashore. Viall was among four people who set off on a fishing trip near Bodega Bay on April 17 in a 21-foot boat.
Crews found the boat overturned on the rocks near Tomales Point in Marin County shortly after it was reported overdue. Authorities say the bodies of two of the people on board — 61-year-old Diane Kelly and 59-year-old Richard Hargreaves, Jr. — were also discovered.
One boater remains unaccounted for.
SUSPECT CHARGED WITH HATE CRIMES IN HISPANIC MAN’S BEATING: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man suspected of beating a Hispanic transient with a metal baseball bat while yelling racial slurs is facing attempted murder and hate crime charges.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports the unidentified homeless man described his attacker to police, who arrested 65-year-old Donald MacPherson nearby on Tuesday. The hospital the victim was taken to lists him as in serious but stable condition.
MacPherson was charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor, all with hate crime enhancements, during his first appearance in court Thursday. Bail was set at $1 million. He’ll be arraigned Friday.
