NORTH COAST 2 men held in abalone bust
In the first major abalone bust of the year, state Fish and Game officials Thursday night arrested two men with 26 of the shellfish in Navarro, spokesman Steve Martarano.
The abalone limit is three per day and 24 per year, Martarano said.
Lance Robles, 43, of Fort Bragg and Marty Holloway, 43, of Red Bluff were booked at the Mendocino County jail Thursday night on suspicion of conspiracy to harvest abalone for commercial purposes, he said.
Abalone sell for about $50 each on the black market, Martarano said.
Robles, a one-time commercial diver, has twice been convicted on the same charge, Martarano said.
The two men were arrested after Fish and Game officials observed them harvesting abalone for several days near Mendocino this week. Abalone season began April 1.
Officials had been alerted to their activities by concerned citizens, Martarano said.
- Glenda Anderson
HEALDSBURG Arson suspect placed at scene
Prosecution witnesses testified Friday that Healdsburg arson suspect Henry Scholten was seen bicycling away from the scene around the time one of the fires was reported.
The prosecution also introduced a recording of a conversation between Scholten and a friend, Ashley Lewis, who recorded an apparent admission on her cell phone.
Scholten, 26, faces nearly 10 years in prison if convicted of intentionally setting three fires in two buildings over five days in mid-February.
During the second day of a preliminary hearing, prosecutor Anne Masterson played a recording of the conversation, in which Lewis asked Scholten if he set the fires.
"It's very possible," he said, adding that "somebody may have climbed underneath there and lit a bunch of cardboard boxes."
When she asked why he set fire to one building twice, he told her, "Because it didn't burn all the way."
But later in the conversation, Scholten said, "It wasn't me, though."
Scholten, who is known in Healdsburg for his bizarre dress, wild hair and antics, has pleaded not guilty and is being held in Sonoma County Jail.
The hearing is expected to finish Tuesday.
- Lori A. Carter
PETALUMA 2 held after theft of red shirts
Petaluma police arrested two young men suspected of stealing red shirts worn by two juveniles they thought were gang members.
Sgt. Jim Stephenson identified the suspects arrested Thursday as Jared Doyle, 20, of Petaluma and a 17-year-old male.
Stephenson said Doyle, the teenager and an unidentified third man confronted two male juveniles on March 24 in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store on Old Redwood Highway and demanded that they remove their red shirts.
As they stripped the victims of their shirts, the suspects yelled gang slogans and told them not to wear red in Petaluma, police said.
Neither victim was a gang member, Stephenson said.
Doyle was booked into county jail on suspicion of robbery and committing a crime while participating in a street gang. Bail was set at $100,000.
The 17-year-old, whose name was withheld by police because he's a juvenile, was booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of robbery and committing a crime while participating in a street gang.
- Jose L. Sanchez Jr.
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