LAKEPORT – A fight that was reported Saturday afternoon eventually led to the arrests of two people on weapons charges.

As Lake County News reported over the weekend, Lakeport Police and the Lake County Sheriff's Office were involved in making the arrests, which took place along Ackley Road in Lakeport.

A report from Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Cecil Brown Monday explained that at 3:41 p.m. Saturday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported fight in front of a residence in Kelseyville. Personnel from the Kelseyville Fire Protection District also responded.

The deputies found several excited people in front of the home, according to Brown, who told the deputies that “Jose” started a fight, and then left in a gray Isuzu utility vehicle. Witnesses told fire department personnel that a woman in the Isuzu had a small handgun concealed in her brazier.

As deputies searched for the Isuzu, Lakeport Police Officer Jason Ferguson located the vehicle on Ackley Road near Lakeport, according to Brown's report.

Lt. Brad Rasmussen of Lakeport Police told Lake County News Monday that Ferguson spotted the vehicle on Highway 29 and followed it to Ackley Road, where he initiated a felony stop and waited for sheriff's deputies.

Brown said Deputy Gavin Wells, Deputy Darren Daskam, Sgt. Jim Beland and Sgt. Brian Martin responded to the Ackley Road location. There they detained Jose Luis Valadez, 29, of Lakeport; Teresa Yepez Garcia, 48, of Lakeport; and another woman and removed them from the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle yielded a .380 caliber handgun, according to Brown's report.

Interviews were conducted at the residence in Kelseyville, at the location of the high-risk stop and at Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Brown reported. Witnesses confirmed that an altercation had occurred at the residence.

However, Brown reported that none of the involved parties wished to cooperate in the prosecution of any other party.

The interviews also revealed that Valadez and Yepez Garcia had both been in possession of the .380 caliber handgun.

Both were arrested for carrying a concealable firearm in a vehicle (12025(a)(1)PC) and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle (12031(a)(1)PC), and booked into the Lake County Jail.

Since Saturday, Yepez Garcia and Valadez have both posted, in the amount of $20,000 each, and been released from jail, according to jail records.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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