LUCERNE, Calif. – Late Monday, the Lake County Sheriff's Office continued to search for a suspect who had been the focus of a manhunt earlier in the day and was said to be armed and dangerous.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Lake County Central Dispatch warned local law enforcement officers to be on the lookout for Johnny Merritt Colcleaser, 27, of Vallejo.
Colcleaser, who has an active warrant for a parole violation, was last seen Monday morning in Lucerne wearing a blue t-shirt and blue jeans and carrying a 9 millimeter handgun, according to sheriff's officials. He is 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, has brown eyes and long brown hair in a pony tail.
The be on the lookout notification also warned that Colcleaser could be in possession of an additional firearm – an AK-47.
Colcleaser had fled from deputies earlier in the day after allegedly making threats to a cousin at a Ninth Avenue residence, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said at about 9 a.m. a 24-year-old Lucerne man called 911 and reported his cousin – later identified as Colcleaser – had threatened to kill him. Colcleaser was reported to have had a 9 millimeter handgun and was last seen walking on 11th Avenue towards Highway 20 in Lucerne.
Several deputies responded to the area, and Bauman said the first on scene spotted Colcleaser, who then took off running.
The deputy chased Colcleaser on foot over fences and through yards, and during the chase Colcleaser dropped a handgun but turned around and picked it back up before he took off running again, Bauman said.
The foot chase ended in the area of Ninth Avenue and Highway 20 when Colcleaser disappeared into a creek bed and the deputy lost sight of him. Bauman said the suspect was seen again momentarily emerging from the creek bed but disappeared again when deputies converged on him.
During the four hours that followed, numerous sheriff's deputies and sheriff's detectives searched for Colcleaser, according to Bauman.
Bauman said the California Highway Patrol responded to the area to close it off while the search went on. CHP officers also helped search for Colcleaser, including checking the area of Queen of the Rosary Church on Country Club Drive.
A Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department helicopter was requested to come to the area to assist with the search, Bauman said.
The sheriff's SWAT team was called when it was believed Colcleaser may be in a residence on Ninth Avenue, according to Bauman.
Bauman said deputies secured the Ninth Avenue home where Colcleaser was believed to be located while the SWAT team was en route to the scene, and evacuated several nearby businesses, including Lucerne Pharmacy and Foster's Freeze. The sheriff's office also issued a reverse 911 telephone notification about the situation.
Lucerne Elementary School also was locked down for a few hours late in the morning, according to school secretary Angela Austin.
The CHP closed Highway 20 between Seventh and 13th avenues as the sheriff's SWAT team arrived on scene, staged and prepared to search the home on Ninth Avenue where Colcleaser was believed to be located, Bauman said.. However, when the SWAT team entered and searched the house and its outbuildings at about 11 a.m. Colcleaser wasn't found.
Bauman said deputies continued searching Lucerne's neighborhoods for several more hours but, as of 2 p.m., Colcleaser was not located.
During that time, Bauman said sheriff's deputies also went out on reports of several suspects that they thought might have been Colcleaser, with no luck.
“The last time and place we saw him was when he popped out of the creek momentarily,” Bauman said.
The search wasn't completely fruitless – deputies found in the creek bed a blue plaid shirt Colcleaser had been wearing, Bauman said.
The bigger find – they located an unoccupied 2002 Ford pickup truck 13th Avenue that they believe Colcleaser drove to Lake County, Bauman said. The pickup was reported stolen out of San Pablo.
Bauman said the motive for Colcleaser's alleged threats against his cousin's life remain under investigation.
Community members should by no means confront Colcleaser, Bauman said.
Anyone with information on Colcleaser’s whereabouts should immediately call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office by dialing 911.
For footage of the day's search, see Lake County News' YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews?feature=mhum.
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