Business under new ownership vandalized
Police are still investigating vandalism at Main Street Bicycles
LAKEPORT >> Not too soon after Matt Sesser and Hannah Lee, the couple running Main Street Bicycles, announced the shop was under new ownership and posted the shop’s hours via social media this past weekend, the business was vandalized in the early hours of Sunday morning, the perpetrators smashing the shop’s front window and stealing a Specialized Tarmac road bike with an estimated value of $1,600.
The business community had responded positively and encouraged the young couple’s entrepreneurial efforts with residents and members of the Main Street Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce’s Certified Tourism Ambassadors posting their congratulations on Facebook and promising to take them up on their offer to come visit the store, but early on Sunday Lee received a text notifying her of the break-in.
Main Street Bicycles has had to contend with the fallout and aftermath of former owner Jeffery Scott Cramer’s arrest last year in relation a child pornography investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office that had been on
going for several months. Cramer was booked at the Lake County Jail for the possession and sending of child pornography in May of 2020 but posted bail soon after.
According to the Lake County District Attorney’s office, Cramer entered a guilty plea on a charge of PC 311.11(a) possession of child pornography Monday and is scheduled for sentencing on May 10.
“We are treating it as a felony vandalism case. We do believe based on the note we found that the vandal was targeting the previous owner.”
— Brad Rasmussen, Lakeport Police chief
Sesser said a rock that was found at the scene used to smash up the window had a note affixed to it, but he was not aware of the note’s content as it had been collected as evidence prior to his arrival to board up the damaged store front. He added that a shovel was also found at the scene left next to the rock and the note. Sesser had suspected a customer who he said purchased an expensive bicycle a few weeks prior to the break in Sunday and who had reached out to Sesser again recently, angrily using “an accusatory tone” because the person believed Sesser was somehow involved in the bike being subsequently
stolen by a homeless person.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said he could not reveal a lot of the details of the case, including the exact message that had been attached to the rock the police recovered at the scene due to the fact the incident was fairly fresh and the police were still investigating. “We are still doing a follow up investigation but right now it appears to be an isolated incident,” Rasmussen said when asked if he knew of other downtown businesses having experienced a similar recent instance of vandalism or break-ins.
“We are treating it as a felony vandalism case,” the chief added pointing to the damage to the store’s window which he said was fairly
significant and which he estimated to be at least $500. Rasmussen said the police believe the vandalism is related to someone who may have had issues with previous store ownership.
“We do believe based on the note we found that the vandal was targeting the previous owner,” he said.
Rasmussen, in a recent report to Lakeport’s City Council, said that in 2020 the department received 5,820 calls for service and had a total of 9,093 incidents within the city limits. He added that this is about 300 fewer total incidents than the previous year. He added that crime decreased during the months of COVID shutdowns but acknowledged the department continues to deal with staffing shortages.