UPDATE 2:25 p.m.: The passenger has been released. The driver has not been located. At this point, Lt. Wayne Hanson of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department says that the only charges that can be filed against the driver are Misdemeanor Hit and Run as well as Reckless Driving. Hanson said that the passenger explained that they were afraid of the local residents which is why they fled the scene.

Hanson explained that law enforcement was very concerned about the situation.  “We considered it a very serious offense that is why we sent all the resources that we could.” 

The mother with two children who was involved in an accident with the two suspects spoke briefly with the Outpost. She and her two children are being checked out by a local hospital. She wanted to make sure that everyone knew how helpful an Officer Barnes was. She said he was one of the first on the scene and he was “extremely comforting.”

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: Lt. Wayne Hanson of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the suspected passenger in the vehicle pursuit near Shively was located by helicopter. The suspect had been hiding in the bushes.

Hanson said that the incident that drew multiple law enforcement agencies to the rural area began this morning when a 2002 White Toyota 4Runner was seen parked next to a gate on a private road on Somerville Road near Miranda. Nearby residents were concerned as a white Toyota 4Runner had been associated with local burglaries in recent weeks.

Hanson said that two residents attempted to use their vehicles to block the 4Runner from leaving. However, when they got out of their vehicles to speak with the two occupants, the driver backed up and rammed into their vehicles. The Toyota raced off with the citizens attempting to follow. 

One citizen reported that one of the suspects was standing up and shooting out of the sunroof of the 4Runner at the following vehicles.

The 4Runner turned off Hwy 101 at the Shively Road exit. About a mile east of 101, the 4Runner was involved in an accident with a westbound vehicle. Hanson described the occupants of that vehicle as a mom driving two small children to school. No one was badly injured, he said.

The 4Runner went off the road and the two occupants fled on foot. The passenger was later located by a helicopter but the driver is still at large, Hanson said.

He believes that no shots were actually fired. A black flare gun was located in the abandoned 4Runner. He believes that it was pointed at the following vehicles.  He said that the citizens in those vehicles did not actually observe muzzle flashes but only a black object being pointed at them. 

He has promised an update when more information is obtained.

UPDATE 10:58 a.m.: One suspect has reportedly been detained.

UPDATE 10:50 a.m.: Local resident Adam Gray sent in these stunning photos of the scene three to four miles from Highway 101 out Shively Road. Gray says that there are two checkpoints with two officers stopping vehicles on either side of the accident scene and approximately 25 officers from multiple agencies at the scene itself. There is also a helicopter searching the scene.

UPDATE 10:30 a.m.: Scanner tape from 8:30 a.m has victims chasing the suspect vehicle north from Somerville Road. They went onto 101 at Salmon Creek. Then went north on the Avenue. Dispatch relayed information from the reporting party that the suspects had been shooting out of the sunroof at the people chasing them. There was an accident involving the suspect vehicle with another vehicle. That vehicle contained children.

UPDATE 10 a.m.: A local resident described four or five Sheriff’s deputies and four California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers as headed into Shively about 8:30 this morning. An accident, presumably related, has appeared on the CHP information site. It shows a Toyota 4Runner vs a Toyota Camry.

Below is a map showing roughly where the accident occurred. 

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Original post:Multiple law enforcement agencies are searching for a suspect in a hit and run collision on Somerville Road. The suspect driver sped north on 101 and reportedly was involved in another accident. The suspects then fled on foot. Law enforcement has requested a K9 to search for two suspects in the Shively area.  According to scanner traffic, Dispatch warned law enforcement that the suspect has an “officer safety warning” indicating that the suspect is considered dangerous.

The wife of the victim of the first collision told the Outpost that the suspect vehicle was on Somerville Road near Miranda. The suspect, she said, rammed her husband’s vehicle and another in order to “get away when stopped.”

Saloman said, “We called police and they chased him… .” She said, the suspect vehicle reportedly “struck another car and [went] off the edge and now it’s a foot chase.”

Lt Wayne Hanson of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that his office was searching for a suspect in the Shively area but has declined to comment on it as the situation is still developing.