Man Arrested After Firearm-Related Incident Near Remote Whale Gulch School
This article contains information 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.
Stock photo of MCSO law enforcement vehicle taken in 2020.
A 74-year-old Whitethorn man was arrested Thursday, January 22, following a law enforcement investigation into a reported firearm-related incident near the Whale Gulch School in the far northwestern corner of Mendocino County, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Whale Gulch is located in a remote stretch of coastal Mendocino County that is not directly accessible from the rest of the county. To reach the area, Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies must travel north into Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction before looping back south along the coast. Because of the distance and response time involved, Humboldt County deputies are often asked to assist with incidents in the area.
Initial scanner traffic Thursday indicated a possible robbery in progress at the school, referenced as a violation of Penal Code section 211. Subsequent radio traffic clarified that the situation involved a man reportedly brandishing a firearm at another individual who was inside a vehicle near the school.
MCSO Captain Quincy Cromer told Redheaded Blackbelt, via text message, that Roderick Brown, a 74-year-old man from Whitethorn, was arrested and booked during the investigation.
According to Cromer, Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies investigated the incident with assistance from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. During the course of the investigation, deputies served both a search warrant and a gun violence restraining order.
Brown was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, in violation of Penal Code section 422, and brandishing a firearm, in violation of Penal Code section 417, Cromer said.
Deputies located and seized ammunition during the investigation but did not locate any firearms, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
No injuries were reported in connection with the incident.
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History repeats again and again and again and again and again
Don’t rake your guns to town. J. Cash
rake?
Yeah, raking your guns to town gets dirt in the lockwork and barrel. Also possible negligent discharge. Very bad. It’s another dimension in the Gulch. A dimension of time, a dimension of space . . .
Poor guy, he’s suffering just being himself…
Coincidentally I was just typing up the second draft of a story about him today,
going back 50 years and including these new conflicts he told me about a few days ago…
(Photo 2007)
He said she said they assaulted him & stole his phone a few days before, already went to the Mendo Sheriffs dept to file complaint now they fabricate a gun story.
Whitethorn Bill are you defending him? He was the only one terrorizing our community for over 40 years! The only one taken to jail for pulling a gun on another community member in broad daylight on the county road near the school. [edit]
I just heard that Roderick Brown is out of jail and home with charges dropped and that he didn’t brandish a gun. I don’t know if that’s true, is it up to you as the site-owner to find out and issue a retraction (or something?) or is it best to just move on regardless what the true facts turn out to be? How do you ordinarily deal with a situation like this?
We usually suggest that people disputing the account of law enforcement, start by contacting law enforcement to get the situation cleared up.