Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On Aug. 10, 2023, at about 11:19 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Mad River Beach for the report of a vehicle stuck in the sand.
Deputies arrived in the area and recognized the stuck vehicle, which had been reported stolen out of Eureka one week prior. Upon seeing deputies, a male attempting to dig the vehicle out of the sand fled into the dunes.
Deputies searched for the man, later identified as 45-year-old Dale Dodge Baldridge, and located him hiding underneath a bush. During a search of Baldridge incident to arrest deputies located the keys to the stolen vehicle and over two grams of methamphetamine.
Baldridge was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle (PC 496d(a)), resisting a peace officer (PC 148(a)(1)) and possession of a controlled substance (PC 11377(a)), in addition to warrant charges of false identification to a peace officer (PC 148.9(a)), possession of a narcotic controlled substance (HS 11350(a)), transportation/sale of a controlled substance (HS 11352(a)), person prohibited in possession of ammunition (PC 30305(a))¸ possession of a controlled substance for sales (HS 11351), felon in possession of tear gas (PC 22810(a)), possession of cannabis for sales (HS 11359(b))¸ possession of greater than 28.5 grams of cannabis (HS 11357(B)(2)), possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)) and Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) revocation (PC 3455(a)).
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.