California State Parks brought an excavator to Bidwell Mansion, but officials stressed Saturday that the equipment was for investigation, not demolition.
Matt Teague, district supervisor for California State Parks, was on site in the morning and told this newspaper that the excavator would help investigators as they search for the cause of the fire that destroyed the historic landmark Wednesday.
“We are not demolishing the mansion,” he said repeatedly.
An update from his department explained that the excavator would “remove destroyed components of the building to allow investigators greater access to the interior.” The state deployed the Sacramento-Sierra Regional Arson Task Force to work with local agencies.
“It remains too early to discuss the future of the state historic park,” the update concluded. “California State Parks is grateful for the allied agencies responding to this incident and the outpouring of community support as we collectively grieve the loss of this historic landmark.”
Child abuse charges
A Palermo couple facing multiple charges of child abuse remained in custody after an initial court appearance Friday, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Zar Cha, 41, and Jenny Vang, 32, were arraigned on charges of physical child abuse with special allegations of great bodily injury and attempting to dissuade the victims from reporting the abuse to law enforcement. Cha also was charged with a count of assault with a firearm.
According to DA Mike Ramsey, Cha is charged with fracturing his 14-year-old nephew’s rib and knocking his 8-year-old daughter unconscious after punching her in the face. Cha allegedly pointed a firearm at the boy while threatening to kill him. Ramsey said Vang broke the boy’s tooth using a metal spoon and, on a different date, burned him with a spatula.
Cha, who the DA said was convicted of felony child abuse in Yuba County in 2004, faces up to 29 years in prison; Vang faces up to 14 years. Both were ordered to Butte County Jail on no-bail status until they next appear in court Thursday.
Teen truck thief
An unidentified 16-year-old faced charges Friday in Butte County Juvenile Court following a truck theft in Magalia that the District Attorney’s office said led to the vehicle owner’s death.
According to Ramsey, the teenager took the truck of Robert Etta, 50, out of his driveway on Crescent Drive at around 2 a.m. on Dec. 9. Etta ran out from his home, jumped in the bed of his truck and used his cellphone to call 911.
The call lasted approximately six minutes, with Etta describing the truck skidding and swerving at a high rate of speed, until dispatchers heard a vehicle collision. Sheriff’s deputies located the crashed truck flipped over on its side off Carnegie Road around three miles from Etta’s home. As the truck caught fire, deputies removed Etta and the boy from the immediate vicinity, and medical responders declared Etta deceased.
The teen underwent surgery for a broken leg at Enloe Health, then booked into Butte County Juvenile Hall. Appearing in court in a wheelchair, he was charged with auto theft and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. His next court date, Wednesday, also includes separate auto theft charges from last April in Chico.
