Second Arrest In Sonora Tenant-Landlord Dispute

TCSO booking photo

Sonora, CA — A tenant was arrested twice within two weeks over the holidays– first for allegedly firing a gun at the landlord and the second time for stealing her phone.

Tuolumne Sheriff’s Deputies made a return visit to a home on Dusty Trail for a report of a man who took his landlord’s phone and then showed her a knife. The tenant, 57-year-old John Harvey Porter, lives in a trailer on the property but had left the scene before deputies arrived. Just six days before on Dec. 30th, Porter was arrested for firing a gun at his landlord’s back as she walked away, as reported here.

In this latest incident last week, the landlord told deputies that Porter knocked on her door and asked to use her cell phone. She complied but says he then ran back to his trailer with her phone in hand while she shouted at him to give it back. The landlord followed him to the trailer where Porter reportedly had grabbed a pocket knife and pointed it at her while refusing to return the phone. The landlord went to her home and called 911.

Deputies made a sweep of the area and found Porter walking westbound on Highway 108. He was subsequently arrested for felony Robbery and committing the crime while released on bail. His bond was set at $50,000. Neither the knife nor the victim’s phone were recovered.