Pubdate: Sun, 10 Apr 2005
Source: Daily Republic (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Daily Republic
Contact:  http://www.dailyrepublic.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1727
Author: Claire St. John

'THROW SOME EGGS IF YOU HAVE TO'

Lagoon Valley Operation Nets Four 'Dealers'

VACAVILLE - In a sting operation Saturday, officers arrested four
suspected marijuana cultivators and rescued a hostage who was used as
a human shield.

Just before noon, two teams raided the island in Lagoon Valley Lake,
where a crop of marijuana plants were hidden.

But as they approached the boat dock, a chilling transmission from the
island crackled over the radio.

"We have visual contact, we have visual contact."

Under attack

Undaunted, officers swept down to the lake side, captured the dock
lookout, commandeered a boat used to ferry marijuana and cultivators
and hustled onto the island, shocked to hear screams for help.

The voice that officers first heard on the radio now pierced the
air.

"Throw some eggs if you have to!"

Eggs?

Motion sensors went crazy on the island, and the two teams hit the
ground as water balloons filled the air, exploding in the boat and on
the shore where officers were unloading.

Tactical maneuvering

The voice was Bill Beveridge's, a Vacaville Police Department cadet,
who with a coonskin cap and a group of similar rogues, was holding the
island with chilled water balloons and red plastic guns. Rotten goose
eggs were said to be fair game, but even depraved "drug dealers"
didn't go that far.

On shore, Joe Geiskopf, a cadet who was working the dock, rubbed his
neck while watching the action on the island.

"I had six on me, four on my back because I tried to get up," he
said.

Meanwhile, other cadets and California Highway Patrol Explorers acting
as law enforcement, boarded the boat and hauled themselves toward the
screams on a rope tied between the island and the shore.

Not exactly covert

Cadet Nick Hill, in charge of pulling the boat back and forth, ran
into some trouble when he first clotheslined himself with the rope,
knocking himself onto his back in the boat, and then tipping the boat
and spilling himself into the water.

"It's hysterical," said CHP Officer Willy Williford, watching the
entire exercise from the shore. He wasted no time calling Hill's
father, a CHP sergeant.

"You remember how we were talking about fine motor skills?" he laughed
into his Nextel.

Despite mishaps, the two teams took the suspected criminals into
custody and rescued the hostage, played by cadet Kaela Gottlieb.

"Michelle (King) used me as a body shield," Gottlieb said, adding King
had fought like crazy to resist arrest.

"I put someone in a headlock," she grinned.

Teamwork

While the exercise seemed more like fun than training, Williford said
it teaches explorers and cadets, all of whom want to go into law
enforcement or learn more about it, how real officers cooperate.

"They have to work together, they have to be familiar with each
other," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin