A North Hills man was arrested Thursday on charges that include alleged robbery, resisting arrest, brandishing a replica firearm, and violation of parole.
At about 2:28 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21, Orland police officers responded to a report of a man brandishing a handgun in front of Sav Mor market, 35 East Walker Street, but learned the suspect had already fled the scene in a black GMC SUV.
During the investigation, officers determined the suspect allegedly brandished a handgun at employees when they confronted him for shoplifting.
A short time later, the black GMC was located near Papst Avenue and East Walker Street. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled from officers until the SUV collided with a gate and trees at the intersection of Bryant Street and County Road MM.
The suspect reportedly fought with officers and was taken into custody with the assistance of a police K9.
Officers recovered a CO2 bb gun pistol and later identified the suspect as Julio Sesar Saucedo Ornelas, 29, of North Hills. North Hills is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles County.
Saucedo Ornelas was arrested and booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging robbery (a felony), threatening to commit a crime with intent to terrorize (a felony), driving while under the influence of alcohol (a misdemeanor), evading a police officer with disregard for safety (a misdemeanor), obstructing or resisting a public service officer (a misdemeanor), and exhibition of a firearm (a misdemeanor).
Bail was set at $265,000, but he was also held without bail for alleged violation of parole (a felony).
A call from The Observer to the Glenn County Jail asking if Julio Ornelas was still an inmate there received the reply, “I have no one by that name in custody.”
Lifelong Orland resident Lauren Kelly Holmes Wright, 38, died in a single-vehicle rollover accident on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.
According to Officer Rodney Pozzi of the Willows Area Office of the California Highway Patrol, at about 7:39 a.m. a 38-year-old Orland woman was driving a 2009 Nissan truck north on Humboldt Avenue in Willows, approaching County Road 48 at a high rate of speed.
For reasons still under investigation, the driver, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, failed to bring the Nissan to a stop at the “T” intersection.
The Nissan ran off the road and collided with an embankment before overturning several times and colliding with several almond trees in an orchard north of Road 48.
The Nissan came to a rest on its wheels, facing a southerly direction.
The driver, who was not wearing her seatbelts, sustained fatal injuries.
According to Officer Pozzi’s news release, “It is not known if drugs or alcohol were a factor in this crash.”
The incident is still under investigation, and witnesses to the crash or movement of the vehicle leading up to the crash are encouraged to contact the CHP in Willows, 530-934-5424.
The CHP did not release the victim’s name, and the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office, which normally provides the name of the deceased following notification of next of kin, did not release its media logs for Thursday, Dec. 21.
However, the family of the accident victim has started a GoFundMe account to cover the victim’s funeral costs as well as any costs her husband and children will endure.
The GoFundMe page identifies the victim as Lauren Kelly Holmes Wright. The page states that Ms. Wright leaves behind five children, a husband, her mother, three sisters, and a brother.
“She … was an active member of her community and church, and a kind and caring friend,” the page says. “She will be missed by many.”
The GoFundMe page was set up by Ruth Holmes. The family is seeking $10,000, of which $1,406 has been raised as of the time of the publication of this report.
For a couple of hours early Sunday morning, Glenn County emergency responders had their hands full, especially around Orland, where two serious accidents occurred within a little more than a half-hour of each other.
At about 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 17, responders were dispatched to a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian accident on the northbound side of Interstate 5, south of County Road 7. Then, 34 minutes later, while still dealing with the accident on I-5, responders were also dispatched to a crash on Highway 32 near County Road Q.
The crash on Highway 32 was a hit-and-runs. The accident on I-5 turned out to be a fatality.
According to the CHP Traffic website, the first accident actually occurred on the northbound side of Interstate 5, on the bridge that goes over Stony Creek. The person who reported the incident said he “believes a vehicle possibly hit a pedestrian.”
The vehicle was initially described as a blue Honda Pilot with a paper dealership plate. Late Monday afternoon’s news release from the Willows Area Office of the California Highway Patrol said the Honda was black.
At 1:41 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy and the California Highway Patrol requested that a traffic break be set up at Newville Road (Highway 32). Orland police officers assisted in setting this break up, an officer told the Glenn County Communications dispatcher.
An early broadcast on the police scanner from Orland Police Officer Jose Flores also reported that the victim of the collision, identified in the sheriff’s logs released on Monday as Gabriel Ramirez Bustamante of Walnut Creek, was “now negative on the breathing.” CPR was initiated.
(Meanwhile, at 1:42 a.m., the Glenn County dispatcher reported a 911 medical aid call was received for a person possibly having a heart attack at 113 South Culver Street in Willows.)
Glenn County Sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Gonzalez stated he was northbound and was going to try to slow down traffic. A little later, it was announced that a traffic break was being started just south of County Road 24.
It was asked if the roadway (most likely meaning the northbound side of the freeway) was completely shut down. In response, it was said that “at this point we have the number two lane [that is, the slow lane] completely shut down. Number one [the fast lane] is still clear.”
A moment later, it was mentioned that “there is debris all over the roadway.” It was also indicated that the CHP had not yet arrived.
It was reported that traffic had slowed just south of County Road 16.
Glenn County Sheriff’s Sergeant Grant Lemmon reported that it had been decided to let traffic continue slowly in one northbound lane on I-5 so that traffic would not have to be diverted onto Highway 32. Sgt. Lemmon then asked Deputy Gonzalez to grab some flares and set them out.
Sgt. Lemmon also told Deputy Gonzalez to pull his (Gonzalez’s) patrol unit up behind Sgt. Lemmon’s, and to use his light bar because Sgt. Lemmon’s vehicle did not have one.
Sgt. Lemmon told the dispatcher that sheriff’s units were now at the scene.
Orland Police Officer Edgar Andrade (call number 509) asked the dispatcher what time he had arrived at the accident scene. The dispatcher replied, “509, it looks like 1:39.”
Officer Andrade then asked, “What time did I start CPR?” The dispatcher answered, “1:42.”
Deputy Gonzalez inquired about what time he had arrived. The dispatcher responded, “You were on scene, creating a traffic break, at 1:45.”
At 2:04 a.m., the fire dispatcher in Corning reported another vehicle accident, this one on Highway 32 at County Road Q. Orland Fire Chief Justin Chaney told him that he was going to remain on the scene of the I-5 incident and that the other firefighters were going to respond from there to the Highway 32 crash.
At about 2:06 a.m., Sgt. Lemmon declared Bustamante to be deceased. A moment later, Chief Chaney told the Corning dispatcher the same thing.
According to the CHP’s news release, the accident on I-5 occurred as Luis A. Manilla Franco, 32, of Phoenix, Ariz., was driving a black 2017 Honda Pilot north on I-5, south of County Road 7. The Honda was traveling in the slow lane of northbound I-5.
A 39-year-old Walnut Creek man, identified in the sheriff’s logs as Gabriel Ramirez Bustamante, was walking north on I-5. For undetermined reasons, a collision occurred between the pedestrian and the Honda.
As stated above, Bustamante succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
According to CHP Officer S. Curteman, the driver of the Honda was wearing his seatbelts and was not injured. Officer Curteman concluded the news release, “Drunk driving was not a factor in this collision.”
After Bustamante was declared dead, Chief Chaney told the fire dispatcher he was leaving the I-5 incident and heading to the Highway 32 crash.
A firefighter already on the scene told Corning dispatch an AT&T pole was down with a guy wire over a PG&E pole and a line hanging eight or nine feet over the roadway. “Definite hazard,” he said. “We’re gonna have to shut down traffic.”
No driver was found at the scene. However, a couple of witnesses said that two men were seen walking east on Highway 32, east of County Road Q.
A responder commented that the men were probably about a mile east of the accident scene by now. The CHP was notified.
The men were not located. PG&E and AT&T arrived at the crash scene and repaired or replaced the pole and guy wires.
Physicist, husband, father, brother and friend, Rudolf Reinhold Larsen died at his home in Glenn on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, with his wife, Mary Ann Hansen, by his side. It was the final chapter in his long battle with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, which he faced with courage and the never-ending help of Mary Ann.
He was born on March 20, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York, to Mary Martin Larsen and Reinhold Larsen, joining his sister, Brynhild Larsen Housh, to complete the family. When he was three, he moved to Toledo, Ohio, with his mother and sister, to grow up in the home his mother was raised in.
He also spent time in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with his aunt and uncle (Mary’s brother) and cousins. He then enrolled in military school for his last two years of high school.
After high school he served four years in the U.S. Navy. Following the Navy, he enrolled at UC Berkeley and earned a Bachelor of Science and a PhD degrees in high energy physics.
While attending UC Berkeley he met and married Elena Palomino Larsen, with whom he had three children: Erik R. Larsen, Robert R. Larsen, and Maria E. Lucier. Rudy Larsen moved the family to Palo Alto in 1961, where he had a distinguished 28-year career at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
In the mid-1970s, he was a force on a team of physicists that designed and built SPEAR, a new accelerator that helped discover new subatomic particles, which secured the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics for his boss, Burton Richter.
He loved working for Burt. It was the highlight of his career.
After retiring in 1989, in 1993, he moved to a few acres in Glenn, Calif., with Mary Ann Hansen, whom he met in the mid-1980s and married in 2000. They both settled into their little slice of heaven.
His true passion was physics, which he continued to study after retirement. He also loved the outdoors, hiking, camping, and riding his bicycle.
He loved trips to the ocean to gather mussels, fish, and the like. He loved music and loved to dance. And he loved good food, especially Mexican and Asian cuisine.
He thoroughly enjoyed the company of their dogs over the years: Abbey, Sally, and Ralph. He loved living in Glenn and puttering around on his quad amongst the orchards and down along the river.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Hansen, of Glenn; sons Erik R. Larsen of Palo Alto, and Robert R. Larsen of Chico; daughter Maria E. Lucier (Bryan Lucier) of Frenchtown, Mont.; and stepson Phil Jolley (Lisbeth) of Norway. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister.
He loved the Glenn and Willows communities and all the kind people.
His loved ones would like to extend their sincere thanks and gratitude to Glenn Medical Center, Hospice of Butte Home Health, Glenn Volunteer Fire Department 911 responders, and Julie Esparza and Cain Esparza for all their help and kindness extended to Rudy and family during his final months.
Many thanks to all their good neighbors in Glenn, especially Derek and Shanna Giesbrecht, who looked after Rudy and Mary Ann after floods and power outages and whenever a helping hand was needed.
A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Willows. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Rudy’s memory to the CMT Foundation at cmtausa.org.
A Redding man suffered major injuries late Wednesday afternoon when he jumped from a moving ambulance on northbound Interstate 5 south of County Road 33, near Artois.
According to Officer Jaime Vasquez of the California Highway Patrol, at about 4:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, Joshua D. Rossman, 32, of Redding, was being transported Falcon Critical Care from Sacramento to Redding. He was traveling in a 2014 Ford E350 ambulance.
For unknown reasons, Rossman jumped out of the moving ambulance and came to rest in the slow lane of northbound I-5. He sustained major injuries and was transported by helicopter to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
Both northbound lanes were shut down for the accident.
Above is a photo of a 2018 Polaris Sportsman 450. This IS NOT the actual vehicle that Ms. Dyer and Ms. Barham were riding at the time of their accident. It also may or may not be the same model of Polaris ATV mentioned in the CHP’s news release.
Glenn County Observer
Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol sent out a news release regarding the ATV accident that left a woman with ‘major trauma’ two days earlier.
According to the CHP, at about 4:03 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19, Demi Dyer, 24, of Orland, was driving a 2018 Polaris ATV with a passenger, Kylee Barham, 27, of Orangevale, seated behind her.
Ms. Dyer was driving in a livestock pen on private property at 4660 County Road 202.
She was traveling west at about 10 miles per hour, approaching a steel fence brace with barbed wire fencing.
For unknown reasons, Ms. Dyer did not take any action to avoid the fence, despite Ms. Barham warning her.
The handlebar and headlight of the Polaris struck the horizontal portion of the fence brace. Ms. Dyer also struck the fence brace and was thrown from the ATV.
Ms. Dyer suffered apparent major injuries from the crash, described on the CHP’s traffic incident page on Sunday as “difficulty breathing, an injury to her stomach, and … bleeding from her mouth.”
She was flown by the Enloe FlightCare helicopter to Enloe Medical Center in Chico for treatment.
Ms. Dyer’s passenger, Ms. Barham, was not injured.
According to CHP Officer Thaddeus Williams, neither woman was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
According to Ms. Dyer’s Facebook page, she is from Vina and lives in Sacramento. She studied at Butte College International, and works for eFax Corporation as a sales representative.
Google map shows the general location of a vehicle crash Sunday afternoon.
By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
Sunday afternoon, a girl or woman (it is presently not clear whether the female was an adult or a child) was riding a quad when she collided with a metal pole.
The location of the accident was given on the CHP’s traffic page as being in the area of County Road 9 and Sixth Avenue. It was actually well to the south of Road 9.
Emergency responders began heading to the crash scene at about 4:07 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19.
According to the CHP, the quad rider was having difficulty breathing, an injury to her stomach, and was bleeding from her mouth.
The Enloe FlightCare helicopter was requested at 4:15 p.m.
At 4:21 p.m., Orland Fire Chief Justin Chaney asked the fire dispatcher to inform Enloe Medical Center personnel that the victim has “major trauma.”
Seven minutes later, the dispatcher told Chaney he had just received a call from Enloe saying there was a 20-minute estimated time of arrival for the helicopter.
FlightCare was “on the ground at 16:51 [4:51 p.m.].”
Watch for an update in The Observer in the not-too-distant future.
On Sunday, the Glenn County Jail released a list of the charges for the two Hamilton City men accused late Thursday night of firearm violations.
Also released were the amounts for their bail.
As reported previously, at about 10:45 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, a shots fired call was received. Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded to the area.
While on their way, the law enforcement officers received a report from another caller that a person in a white four-door sedan was firing a gun from the vehicle while traveling on Fourth Street, two blocks south of Highway 32. Deputies then stopped a white 2002 Toyota four-door sedan at Fourth and Broadway. (The jail’s media released gives a slightly different location: Fifth and Broadway.)
The Toyota was being driven by Gerardo Mendoza Solorzano, 40, of 195 Los Robles, Hamilton City. His passenger was Moises Francisco Cortez, 23, of 211 Third Street, Hamilton City.
When deputies and a CHP officer contacted the occupants of the Toyota, a handgun was seen in plain view. A search of the vehicle was initiated by Deputy Chavez, resulting in a loaded revolver being found, and an AK-style rifle being located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
A high-capacity magazine and multiple rounds for the rifle were also found in the car.
Solorzano and Cortez were arrested and booked into the Glenn County Jail in Willows. Cortez is charged with alleged possession of a large capacity magazine; carrying a loaded firearm in public; carrying a loaded firearm by a member of a criminal street gang; illegal possession of an assault weapon; participation in a criminal street gang; and willful discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner.
All of these charges are felonies. Bail for Cortez was set at $300,000.
The charges against Solorzano allege: possession of a firearm by a felon; possession of ammunition by a prohibited person; possession of a large capacity magazine; carrying a loaded firearm by a person with a prior felony conviction; carrying a loaded firearm by a member of a criminal street gang; illegal possession of an assault weapon; and participation in a criminal street gang.
All of these charges are felonies, but Solorzano was also charged with the following misdemeanors: driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs; and driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Solorzano’s bail was set at $80,000.
The Observer will continue to seek the booking photos for Solorzano and Cortez.
Sheriff’s office photo of the firearms, ammunition, and high-capacity magazine found by deputies.
Glenn County Observer
Two Hamilton City men were taken into custody late Thursday night after a call came into the Glenn County Sheriff’s dispatch center regarding multiple shots being heard in the area of Broadway and First Street.
For those who are unfamiliar with Hamilton City, Broadway is the street the library is on, while First Street is the road the fire station is on. Just to the south of First Street is an orchard.
According to the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office, at about 10:45 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, the shots fired call was received. Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded to the area.
While on their way, the law enforcement officers received a report from another caller that a person in a white four-door sedan was firing a gun from the vehicle while traveling on Fourth Street, two blocks south of Highway 32. Deputies then stopped a white 2002 Toyota four-door sedan (California license plate number 4UYG183) at Fourth and Broadway.
The Toyota was being driven by Gerardo Mendoza Solorzano, 40, of 195 Los Robles, Hamilton City. His passenger was Moises Cortez, 23, of 211 Third Street, Hamilton City.
When deputies and a CHP officer contacted the occupants of the Toyota, a handgun was seen in plain view. A search of the vehicle was initiated by Deputy Chavez, which resulted in a loaded revolver being found, and an AK-style rifle being located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
A high-capacity magazine and multiple rounds for the rifle were also found in the car.
Solorzano and Cortez were arrested and booked into the Glenn County Jail in Willows on several firearm-related charges. Solorzano is a convicted felon and was booked on several charges related to being a felon in possession of ammunition and firearms, as well as driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Evidence at the scene showed that Solorzano and Cortez were likely the two people who had been firing a rifle while driving in Hamilton City.
The Toyota was removed by Bambauer Towing of Orland.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to contact the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office at 530-934-6431.
On Friday at 4:17 p.m., The Observer called the Glenn County Jail in an attempt to acquire the booking photos for Solorzano and Cortez. The Observer’s call was transferred to a jail corporal’s extension, and the request was left on her voice mail.
As of 11:23 p.m. on Saturday, no photos were received by The Observer. Furthermore, the booking reports for Nov. 16, which list the precise charges and the bail for the jail’s inmates, had not yet been posted.
Orland Volunteer Firefighter Jerry Kraemer releases a pumpkin from the top of the ladder of Truck 26.
By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
Pumpkins away!
Fortunately, it wasn’t “Turkeys Away!”, the title of the famous episode of the old WKRP in Cincinnati sit-com in which Mr. Carlson, the owner of the radio station, dropped live turkeys from a helicopter, sending them plummeting to their deaths.
“As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!” Carlson later told his employees as they took complaints from various animal welfare advocates.
Before the catastrophe, he believed the turkey drop would be the greatest promotional event in the history of radio.
Of course, as anyone from rural Northern California can tell you, turkey flightlessness applies only to domesticated turkeys, which have been bred to be so heavy with the meat craved (and carved) by humans that they cannot fly. However, a wild turkey can, well, fly like a bird.
On the other hand, pumpkins, whether wild or domesticated, can’t fly. “As God is my witness, I thought pumpkins can fly,” said no one ever.
All pumpkins can do when dropped from a height is plummet to the ground and smash into a thousand gooey pieces a fact they may have (but probably didn’t) inspire the name of the alternative rock band, Smashing Pumpkins.
The effect of gravity on falling pumpkins did, however, inspire an event held at the Orland fire station during the Treat Street celebration on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Another pumpkin bites the dust.
In a nutshell, the idea behind the plummeting pumpkin contest was for entrants to figure out a way for pumpkins to survive unscathed a 50-foot drop. Possibilities for reaching this goal included attaching parachutes to the pumpkins, wrapping them in blankets, or employing plenty of bubble wrap, thereby (hopefully) preventing the gourds from becoming squashed (so to speak).
The winner would be awarded $20.
Alas, no one was able to enjoy the fruits of their labors. None of the pumpkins walked er, rolled away completely unharmed, although one or two came close.
This pumpkin almost survived the drop.
The award was shared among the entrants. That is, everyone enjoyed a piece of the pumpkin pie.
Perhaps someone will have better luck next year.
As for the rest of the Treat Street event, it appeared to be very well attended. Numerous organizations and businesses had tables set up in Library Park, and Fourth Street was completely shut down to traffic from Colusa Street to Walker Street.
Orland Police Officer Katherine “Kat” Lowery stands with a group of Treat Street participants at Saturday’s event.
As the name suggests, there were treats aplenty.
Costumes were in abundance, with both kids and adults dressing up.
Look who just sailed in to Orland! This pirate had plenty of sweet treats available for any landlubbers with a sweet tooth who might have stopped by the North Valley Collision Repair Center, 427 Colusa Street.
By the way, the best, most perfect costume(s) I have ever seen were at the Treat Street celebration a few years ago. The pandemic was in full swing, and an adult and younger person I think they were a mother and daughter, but I’m not sure; they were, after all, in costume were dressed as 17th century plague doctors.
And what, you may be wondering, is so special about a 17th century plague doctor? Well, see for yourself:
If you want to know more, go to your local library.
All photos by Larry Judkins, with the obvious exception of the colorized woodcut of the 17t h century plague doctor. (I’m old but I’m not that old!)
The Glenn County Observer 