Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

 

On April 21, 2019, at about 12:30 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on Three Creeks Road in Willow Creek for the report of a burglary that had just occurred.  

According to the reporting party, two unknown male suspects associated with a red Toyota Tacoma had cut the locks of a gate on the property and had stolen a generator. When confronted by the male victim, the suspects shot at the victim and then fled the scene in the truck. The victim was not injured during the incident.

Sheriff’s deputies and officers with the California Highway Patrol responding to the scene located the suspect vehicle traveling southbound on Bair Road near Highway 299. The California Highway Patrol initiated a pursuit of the vehicle, with Sheriff’s deputies assisting. During the pursuit the suspects discarded a firearm from the vehicle. Deputies recovered the firearm and continued in the pursuit. During the pursuit, the driver of the suspect vehicle failed to negotiate a turn and was involved in a solo-traffic collision. The suspects then exited the vehicle and fled on foot into the nearby wooded area.

Sheriff’s deputies and CHP Officers, along with the Sheriff’s K9 Unit and a CHP helicopter searched the wooded area for the two suspects. CHP officers and a deputy located the passenger of the vehicle, 26-year-old Trayten Jakitrick Hunt of McKinleyville, in the area of the 400 block of Old Dolly Varden Road.

Hunt was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of grand theft, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.

While continuing to search the wooded area for driver of the suspect vehicle, a sheriff’s deputy searching in rugged terrain fell and sustained a non-life-threatening head injury, losing his department-issued radio in a nearby creek. The deputy was able to call for help using a cell phone but was unable to provide his exact location. Responding units began searching for the injured deputy. After several minutes, the deputy was able to walk back to the nearby roadway, making contact with the searching deputies and officers. The deputy was transported to a local hospital via helicopter, where he was treated for his injuries and released.

The driver of the vehicle remains outstanding at this time.

Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case, including the identity and location of the outstanding suspect, is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.