GLENCOE – What were Michael and Donald Pinon doing on a woman’s private property along the South Fork of the Mokelumne River? Michael, 22, and Donald, 19, were with an unidentified 14-year-old about 4 miles from their home, which is south of the property along Highway 26, closer to the main town of Glencoe. It was Saturday afternoon, June 13. They were probably there to party by the river – they were all later found to be intoxicated, either with alcohol or drugs. (Donald is something of a marijuana enthusiast, according to his Facebook page.)
The South Fork of the Mokelumne River as it passes under Highway 26.
Glencoe and Westpoint are located in the forested hills east of Highway 49 and Mokelumne Hill along the Stephen P. Teale Highway, Route 26. A woman who owns a property just off the highway at the bridge over the South Fork of the Mokelumne River spotted the three young men on the premises. She was there with her daughters, and confronted the trespassers, demanding that they leave. She later told Sheriff’s deputies that the guys became angry, yelling back, and physically bumping her and threatening to hit her.
The woman and her daughters got help from two sources – the Calaveras County Sheriff’s office sent a deputy to respond to the scene at 3:40 pm, and a neighbor, 73-year-old Charles Edward Huss, who lives at the next property up Highway 26, also came to her aid, and he was armed.
When Huss arrived, he chased the trio away from his neighbor, and as they initially fled, he fired a “warning shot” in their direction. That seemed to just make them mad, and perhaps in their intoxicated state, less fearful of the man with the gun. As he chased them down into the canyon area, they turned and confronted him. As the first deputy arrived, she could hear the disturbance going on, and the woman property owner filled her in.
The gate to the property is quite clear – No Trespassing.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, the deputy proceeded to the melee, she found the Pinons and Huss in a potentially violent altercation, and unable to calm the situation verbally, she used pepper spray, hoping the younger men would back off. Donald, however, continued, and landed a punch on the older man. The deputy focused her attention on him, and managed to restrain and place him in the back of her patrol vehicle. As another deputy arrived to assist, Donald showed his displeasure at being held by repeatedly banging his head on the window of the car. It finally gave way, but he was unable to slither through the broken window and escape.
Calmer heads soon prevailed, and the two deputies sorted out the situation. Donald Pinon was arrested and booked for elder abuse, criminal threats, public intoxication, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, trespassing, vandalism and resisting arrest. Michael Pinon was charged with criminal threats, public intoxication, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and trespassing. Their 14-year companion was charged with public intoxication, trespassing, vandalism, battery, and being a juvenile law offender. Donald’s bail was set at $62,500, and Michael’s was $50,000.
C. Edward Huss, who likely thought of himself as the hero in the story, was nonetheless arrested for assault with a deadly weapon for firing on the fleeing troublemakers, despite the fact that he hit none of them, and claimed it was only a warning shot. He was also booked on $50,000 bail.
