Mendocino Deputies Capture Several Suspects in Armed Robbery of Unpermitted Cannabis Grow

This is a press release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:

On 07-09-2019 at about 9:05 pm, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a person reporting they had just been robbed at gunpoint at their residence located in the 17000 block of Low Gap Road in Ukiah, California.

It was also reported, six white male adults, some wearing masks, and clothing identifying them as “security”, restrained at least two people at the location during the reported home invasion robbery.  Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies responded from multiple areas throughout the county converging on the remote location looking for the involved suspects.

It was reported to Sheriff’s Office dispatch that the suspects had stolen one of the victim’s vehicles and left the location westbound on Low Gap Road.

While units were responding to the location to ascertain what had occurred (about thirty minutes after the call took place), a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy and Sergeant were traveling westbound on Orr Springs Road.

During this time they were passed by the victim’s vehicle and a second vehicle following closely behind in the area of the Orr Hot Springs Resort.  The two vehicles took off at a high rate of speed eastbound towards the city of Ukiah.

California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officers and City of Ukiah Police (UPD) Officers had staged near the intersection of Orr Springs Road and North State Street to assist the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.  No pursuit was initiated as Sheriff’s Office personnel had lost sight of the suspect vehicles.

At about 10:05 PM, the stolen vehicle was observed by staged law enforcement units and a traffic enforcement stop was initiated by CHP and UPD officers at the intersection of North State Street and Orr Springs Road.

The driver of the vehicle fled on foot and ran down hill to Masonite Road and crossed over to the Highway 101 Freeway.  The driver was not located during the initial search.

Simultaneous to the traffic enforcement stop of the stolen vehicle; the second vehicle, a 2019 Jeep Compass, identified by Sheriff’s Deputies as being related to this incident, was observed turning northbound onto North State Street.

A high-risk stop was initiated by CHP and Sheriff’s Office personnel at the intersection of North State Street and Kunzler Ranch road where two suspects were detained.  The two suspects were identified as Azuriah Paul and Shane Waier.

Azuriah Paul was the only one of the suspects with a mugshot available at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s booking page.

Evidence directly related to the robbery was located in the two stopped vehicles.

Sheriff’s Deputies at the scene of the reported robbery determined that on 07-09-2019 at around 8:30 PM, the two victims were confronted by armed suspects in the driveway of their residence.

Some of the suspects were wearing masks and at least one suspect was wearing a vest identifying the person as “security”.

One victim was struck by a firearm while attempting to verbally calm the situation.  The injured victim and the other victim where then restrained by “zipties” and “duct tape” inside and outside the residence.

Both victims were moved by force throughout the property and forced at gun point to open a safe at the location.

The suspects took multiple items from the residence to include currency, cellular telephones, harvested marijuana and one of the victim’s vehicle.  The incident last approximately 30 minutes and as the suspects were leaving, one victim was able to escape the “zipties” and notified the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office of the incident.

Following the conclusion of the initial investigation, Sheriff’s Deputies along with allied agencies continued to search the area of North State Street for the outstanding driver of the stolen vehicle.

On 07-10-2019 at about 2:25 AM, a Sheriff’s Deputy was patrolling the area of North State Street and Empire Drive when he observed a white male adult who matched the description of the outstanding involved suspect in the parking lot of the Shell Gas Station (1301 North State Street).

The suspect, later identified as Nathan Kurtz, was contacted and detained.  Kurtz was subsequently identified as being a suspect in the robbery and was arrested.

At this time, Azuriah Paul, Shane Waier and Nathan Kurtz have been arrested for the following charges: 213  PC – Robbery in Concert; 209 (b)(1) PC – Kidnapping during commission of Robbery; 12022 (a)(1) PC – Armed in the Commission of a Felony; 236 PC – False Imprisonment; 459/460 (a) PC – First Degree Burglary; and 10851 VC – Theft of Vehicle.

All three suspects were booked into the Mendocino County Jail where they were to be held in lieu of $275,000.00 bail.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the officers from the Ukiah Police Department and California Highway Patrol (Ukiah Office) for their assistance in this investigation.

It is unknown if there were additional vehicles associated with this investigation.  Additionally, there is potential for evidence related to this investigation to have been discarded on Orr Springs Road.

Investigators determined the robbery location was not a licensed cannabis operation.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information related to additional suspect(s) and vehicle(s) or with information concerning suspicious items along Orr Springs Road to contact us on our non-emergency dispatch line 707-463-4086 or the Sheriff’s Office Tip-Line at 707-234-2100.

Persons wishing to remain anonymous can also contact the WeTip Anonymous Crime Reporting Hotline at 800-782-7463.