On 5-24-10 at about 7:45 am, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter crew was called-out to the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to assist Healdsburg Police as well as Sonoma and Mendocino Sheriff’s deputies in locating a suspect in a stabbing case that occurred in the City of Healdsburg at about 6:05 earlier this morning.  The suspect’s get-a-way vehicle had been located on a ranch south of Squaw Rock just inside the Mendocino County line.

The Helicopter crew arrived on scene at about 8:11 am and observed a body at the base of a 65-foot cliff, just west of Hwy. 101. Access to the area was nearly impossible for ground crews given the steep, rugged, rocky terrain. The helicopter’s tactical flight deputy and the paramedic were long-lined into the area where the body was located.  They confirmed the white male subject, about 30-years-old, (which matches the stabbing suspect’s description) was deceased. The helicopter crew recovered the body and turned it over to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies for further investigation and identification.

On Sunday, November 22, 2009, at 1:06 PM, the Sheriff’s helicopter “Henry-1″ was dispatched to a possible ocean rescue near Horseshoe Cove, within Salt Point State Park. It was reported there was a subject floating face down in the water near the cove.

Ground units, including Sheriff’s Deputies and State Parks Lifeguards arrived at the scene and located the subject, who was now partially out of the water. “Henry-1″ arrived over the cove and quickly configured the helicopter to perform a rescue.

Sheriff’s Pilot Paul Bradley flew Tactical Flight Paramedic Scott Westrope to the subject via a one-hundred-foot long-line rescue rope which was attached to the underside of the helicopter. Paramedic Westrope contacted the unconscious subject and put a rescue-strap around him. Pilot Bradley then flew both Westrope and the subject to the top of the bluffs surrounding the cove. Once atop the bluffs, the subject was determined to be deceased.

The subject, a Caucasian adult male, was wearing a wetsuit at the time he was recovered. The Sheriff’s coroner’s office is following up on this case. Case# 091122-015

Stranded fishermen rescued from rocks

Just after the “Henry-1″ crew was completing the above mentioned mission, some hikers reported they had just seen what they believed to be a person stranded on a large rocky outcropping just south of Horseshoe Cove.

“Henry-1″ quickly lifted off and responded to the area to begin searching for the person. Within seconds, the helicopter was overhead and located two male subjects on top of a large rock and completely surrounded and ensnared by ocean’s rough waters.

The helicopter was once again configured to perform a long-line rescue. Utilizing the one-hundred-foot long-line rescue rope, Sheriff’s Pilot Paul Bradley precisely lowered Tactical Flight Deputy Chris Lomanto and Tactical Flight Paramedic Scott Westrope to the top of the rock, where they began the rescue.

Paramedic Westrope attached a rescue device to the first man, securing him to the helicopter, and both were then flown to the shore where State Park’s Lifeguards were standing-by. Pilot Bradley then returned to the rock where Deputy Lomanto had remained with the second man, who was trapped on a narrow shelf along the rock itself.

Deputy Lomanto then attached himself back onto the rescue long-line and was immediately flown to the second man. Deputy Lomanto and the second man were then flown to the shore.

The men, ages 19 and 20, both Santa Rosa residents, were uninjured and were very grateful to be safely back on the shore. The men had apparently gotten onto the large rock to go fishing. While on the rock, the tide had come back in, cutting them off from returning back to shore. Case# 091122-016

Case numbers; 091122-015 and 091122-016