Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Jan. 24, 2019, at about 2:53 p.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was notified that Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department officers were on Pine Creek Road in Hoopa in pursuit of a vehicle matching the description and license plate of a vehicle reported stolen during a home invasion armed robbery earlier that day in Orleans.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies and officers with the California Highway Patrol, California State Parks and Yurok Tribal Police Department responded to assist. The pursuit continued westbound onto Bald Hills Road, where the vehicle crashed into a dirt bank near French Camp Road. Two occupants of the vehicle, the male driver and female passenger, fled on foot into a heavily wooded area. Both subjects were believed to be armed.

The Sheriff’s K9 Team, an Arcata Police Department K9 Team and a CHP helicopter were deployed to search for the two subjects. Teams were unable to locate the subjects and the search was discontinued at about 6:30 p.m.

During a search of the stolen vehicle, deputies located several items reported stolen from the home invasion armed robbery in Orleans.

On January 25, at about 7:20 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Emergency Communications Center received a citizen tip that a suspicious male subject had been spotted walking east on Bald Hills Road near the Yurok Tribe Veteran’s Cemetery on the Yurok Tribe Reservation.

 

Sheriff’s deputies were unable to locate the subject and requested that Yurok Tribal Police conduct extra patrols in the area to look for the subject. At about 9:45 a.m., a Yurok Tribal Police Officer on patrol in the area located the subject, later identified as 26-year-old Timothy Robert Ulrich Jr., at the Veteran’s Cemetery. Ulrich was identified by the Hoopa Valley Tribal Police as the driver of the pursuit on January 24. Sheriff’s deputies arrived on scene to assist with Ulrich’s apprehension. Ulrich was found to be in possession of a loaded firearm and approximately 79 grams of suspected methamphetamine.

Ulrich was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of: convicted felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a narcotic controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and violation of probation. Charges related to the vehicle pursuit are also being requested, and additional charges may be requested by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office following further investigation.

The female passenger has not been located at this time.

The investigation into the home invasion armed robbery on January 24 is still ongoing.

The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the alert citizen for reporting the suspicious sighting, as well as the following agencies for their coordination in this investigation: Yurok Tribal Police Department, Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Arcata Police Department K9 Team and California State Parks.