MIDDLETOWN, LAKE COUNTY A man was arrested Thursday afternoon after he went to great lengths to keep his mother from contact with people trying to check on her.
It began when an agent from the Lake County Adult Protective Services made a welfare check on the woman at her home on Armstrong Street in Middletown. They had received a report that the woman was malnourished and not getting proper medical care. The agent came to the house but was prevented from entering and contacting the woman by her son. Concerned, they contacted the Sheriff’s Department to get assistance, also reporting that it appeared there were several guns in the home.
Middletown is a small community of less than 1500 people in the southern portion of Lake County. The woman’s home is on a street just outside of the main part of town, where the surroundings become more rural, but still only two blocks from the main business center.
Wesley Wayne Tolleson
According to the Sheriff’s Department, Deputies responded to the home around noon to make contact with the woman and her son. They knocked on her door, but the son, identified as 49-year-old Wesley Wayne Tolleson, refused to allow deputies inside. He told them they’d need a lot more deputies there before he’s let anyone inside. Tolleson apparently does not reside with his mother in Middletown, but has an address ten miles away in Lower Lake,
Obligingly, the deputies proceeded to set up a perimeter around the house, and called for assistance from the Lake County SWAT team. Since Tolleson was believed to have weapons inside as reported by the APS agent, they notified nearby Lake County International Charter School, just over a block away, which was placed on lockdown. The Charter School was in the news recently when they were broken and had several laptops and iPads stolen by Shellby Dunlap, who was arrested last week. Three other area schools were also placed into lockdown pending the outcome.
Tolleson is coming off of another run-in with the law just over a week prior to this incident. He was arrested on Tuesday, March 11 in Middletown on charges of first degree burglary and exhibiting a weapon other than a firearm, such as a knife or club. His bail then was set at $60,000, and he appeared in court that Thursday.
Apparently the show of force was enough to convince Tolleson that they were serious. He resumed communication, and by 2:15 gave himself up without further incident. His mother finally got her welfare check, and as a result was transported by ambulance to a hospital for care. Tolleson was taken to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked for resisting or obstructing a peace officer. As the investigation continues he may be charged with elder abuse, or related violations, and possibly weapons or parole violations.
