Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Jan. 6, 2022, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received information that a homicide suspect wanted out of Washington State was possibly in the Loleta area.

On January 7, at about 12:01 a.m., officers with the Bear River Tribal Police Department located the suspect, 46-year-old William Lee Rickman, inside a vehicle on the 600 block of Singley Hill Road. As deputies were enroute to the location, Rickman fled in the vehicle from law enforcement officers. While searching the Loleta area for Rickman, deputies learned that the vehicle associated with Rickman had crashed on Lundblade Mill Road and Rickman had reportedly fled on foot from the vehicle.  

Sheriff’s deputies, HCSO K9 Yahtzee and officers with the California Highway Patrol conducted a search of the wooded area nearby the abandoned vehicle in an effort to locate Rickman. Despite extensive search efforts, teams were unable to locate Rickman.

A short while later, a local resident contacted law enforcement reporting that a male subject unknown to the resident had arrived at their home requesting a ride. Deputies responded to the residence, located Rickman and took him into custody without further incident.

Rickman was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on a fugitive from justice warrant (PC 1551(a)). He is being held without bail, awaiting extradition to Washington.

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity 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.