CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A local family said they're OK but understandably shaken after a violent Wednesday morning confrontation with armed suspects who broke into their Clearlake Oaks home.
The High Valley home of Ronnie and Janeane Bogner was the target of the home invasion, which occurred shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The couple's adult son, Jacob, was shot in the leg and on a precaution was flown to Enloe Hospital in Chico by a REACH air ambulance. Ronnie Bogner said his son was doing well and in good spirits.
Late Wednesday night, Sgt. Martin Snyder of the Clearlake Police Department told Lake County News that several subjects had been placed under arrest in the case.
The names of those arrested and the charges against them are expected to be released on Thursday, he said.
The Bogners are well-known business owners who are active in the community. They own Weed Tech, and Janeane Bogner is a former Konocti Unified School District Board member and current president of the Lake County Fair Board.
The also are honorary members of the local Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, annually hosting and organizing the Pearl Harbor commemoration events.
Authorities haven't yet suggested a motive, but the Bogners believe the suspects were looking for money and firearms. One of the suspects is a former employee of Weed Tech who was fired last summer.
Ronnie Bogner said he left for work at about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Forty-five minutes later, he received a distraught phone call from his wife saying that they had been robbed and their son was shot.
According to the Bogners' account, a car came to the house and a male wearing a hoodie came to the door asking for “Lonnie.” Janeane Bogner reached up and pulled off the man's hood, with the male subject putting his head down to try to hide his face. She described him as a black male with dreadlocks.
She then closed and locked the front door, reporting that three more males came out of the car and kicked in the door.
The Bogners' 5- and 7-year-old grandchildren were in the home at the time, and Janeane Bogner told them to go into a back bedroom and hide under the bed. She yelled for Jacob, who was in his bedroom on his computer, to call 911.
After the suspects gained access to the home, the Bogners said an armed male suspect went into their son's bedroom and told him, “Get ready to die because you're going to die today!”
Jacob Bogner closed the door on the suspect but the suspect shot through the door with what the Bogners said was a 40-caliber pistol. The bullet hit the young man above the knee.
The suspects kicked in the door and pistol whipped Jacob Bogner repeatedly, his father said.
While in the home the suspects said they were looking for guns, and took two .22-caliber handguns that Ronnie Bogner said he was asked by authorities to identify later that day.
The Bogners said the four suspects stole their 2002 Escalade and fled the area. However, when police confronted the suspects later that morning, they were in a car, Snyder said.
Snyder said officers were in the Clearlake Park area checking for the suspects when they located a vehicle that was believed to have been involved. When they attempted to stop the vehicle, a short pursuit ensued, ending at the dead-end of 16th Street.
Numerous suspects fled the vehicle and the officers gave chase, Snyder said. As the suspects were fleeing through some bushes between 15th and 16th streets, three shots were fired at the officers, who then lost sight of the suspects.
One of the officers had a minor injury not related to gunfire, Snyder said.
District Attorney Don Anderson, who is doing a critical incident investigation on the shooting at Clearlake Police's request, told Lake County News that the officers involved were Chief Craig Clausen and Lt. Tim Celli.
Neither Clausen nor Celli returned fire, Anderson said.
A female suspect who stayed in the vehicle was the first to be detained, said Snyder.
A perimeter was set up, with Clearlake Police, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and California Highway Patrol at the scene, with support from Lake County Fire, Snyder said.
He said the suspects ultimately were located hiding at a home on 15th Street.
About midday, several of the remaining suspects were taken into custody, with one male remaining at the home, Snyder said.
Sgt. Nick Bennett told Lake County News Wednesday afternoon that the sheriff's SWAT team was staged and ready to go into the home as soon as a search warrant was secured.
Snyder said the lone suspect who remained in the home surrendered to authorities around 7:30 p.m.
The Bogners said they didn't know where their Escalade was, since the vehicle hadn't been recovered.
“It has not been recovered at this time, however, we know it's whereabouts,” Snyder said of the Bogners' vehicle.
The investigation continued overnight, Snyder said.
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