Upon the report of a female community member being physically attacked by a male suspect while doing her laundry at the Willow Wash Laundromat, the Lakeport Police Department arrested Michael Kevin TONEY, a 26 year old transient of Lakeport, and booked him into the Lake County Jail on the charges of Robbery by Force. LPD officers responded to the laundromat in the Safeway Shopping Center and made contact with a 64 year old female Lakeport resident who provided a detailed physical and clothing description of the offender, who was unknown to her, that forced her against laundromat equipment and attempted to remove and steal a coin purse from her person, after she had already given him a small donation that he solicited. The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival. An expeditious search of the immediate area yielded a possible suspect, TONEY, a short distance from the scene. TONEY was positively identified as the perpetrator by the victim during a subsequent in-field showing. TONEY is being held on $150,000.00 bail. TONEY is known to the police department and has prior recent arrests. The Lakeport Police Department is committed to working with the community, the housed, as well as the homeless population, businesses and neighborhood groups to reduce crime, improve quality of life and address behavioral health issues, albeit with the ever present reduction of appropriate resources and ongoing changes to California law which have reduced accountability for persons committing crimes.
