Less-lethal force used to arrest assault suspect in Willow Creek

Deputies and California Highway Patrol officers used a beanbag shotgun at the Big Rock Day Use Area in Willow Creek after a combative assault suspect ran into the Trinity River and climbed onto a rock in midstream. The move gave the Swiftwater Rescue Team a safe opening to take him into custody without further incident.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called about 12:16 p.m. July 6 to the 2300 block of State Highway 96 after a report of a physical assault near the boat launch. While responders were still on the way, dispatch received more information that the suspect had choked a male victim and thrown an ice chest at him.

Deputies identified the suspect as 37-year-old Jason Nathaniel Clark of Willow Creek. The sheriff’s office said Clark was already known to law enforcement because of prior violent and assaultive behavior involving officers. When deputies reached the river access area, Clark fled into the Trinity River, climbed onto a rock in the middle of the water and refused commands to come back to shore and surrender. He also reportedly threatened to drown deputies if they tried to approach.

Because Clark was isolated in the river and behaving erratically, additional deputies, the Swiftwater Rescue Team and CHP officers were called in. CHP deployed a beanbag shotgun before the rescue team moved in. CHP’s policy describes the weapon as a 12-gauge shotgun firing kinetic-energy projectiles, and officers who use it train and qualify annually. The sheriff’s office has also said it has outfitted patrol cars with less-lethal shotguns as another option short of lethal force.

The less-lethal round created the narrow window responders needed to close the distance and take Clark into custody. He was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting or obstructing an executive officer and committing a felony while out on bail.

No serious injuries were reported. The scene underscored how a call that began as an alleged assault at a popular river access area can turn quickly into a water rescue and multi-agency tactical response in a part of the county where terrain, distance and current all complicate arrests. Willow Creek, a community of about 2,000 residents on Humboldt County’s eastern edge and surrounded by Six Rivers National Forest lands, has already seen other violent cases this year, including a stabbing investigation and a shots-fired call.