Couple arrested after officer finds rifle with silencer and a check stolen during Kincade fire evacuation

Two people were arrested Tuesday near an unincorporated area of Sonoma County after an officer found, among other things, a check stolen from a mailbox during the Kincade fire evacuation.

About 8 a.m., a deputy with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a “man down” call near Highway 1 and Annapolis Road.

When he arrived, the deputy found a red Ford truck parked on the side of the road with the driver’s door open.

Latisha McCloud, 35, of Stewarts Point, was sitting in the driver’s seat as 47-year-old Jason Bean, of Gualala, laid on her lap, passed out from being intoxicated, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Bean told the deputy that he had a firearm in the truck. The deputy found a bolt-action rifle under the backseat with a “large silencer attached to the barrel,” the officer said. Bean said he used the rifle to hunt deer to feed his children and that the silencer was to keep it quiet.

Upon further search, the officer found a business check inside McCloud’s purse that didn’t belong to her. The deputy spoke to the owner of the check, who told him that it was stolen out of a mailbox in Geyserville during the Kincade fire evacuation. The blaze started Oct. 23, burning almost 78,000 acres and destroying 374 structures. It prompted the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people.

Bean was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and possession of a silencer. McCloud was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property.

Bean’s bail was set at $25,000, and he has since posted bond, according to the Sheriff’s Office. McCloud remains in custody in lieu of $5,000 bail.