CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A daylong manhunt has resulted in the arrest of a Clearlake Oaks man who authorities allege used a shotgun to threaten and terrify his family.
Raymond Brown Jr., 41, was taken into custody shortly before 4:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said Brown was booked into the Lake County Jail on charges including false imprisonment, making threats with the intent to terrorize, willful cruelty to a child, discharging a firearm, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and spousal battery.
At about 9 a.m. Thursday a woman reported to authorities that she had escaped out of her home at the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks after Brown, the father of her three children, fired shots from a shotgun to terrorize his family, Bauman said.
Brown had reportedly been under the influence of both alcohol and methamphetamine at the time, according to Bauman.
Throughout the night and in the presence of their three children – ages 1 month to 3 years – Brown allegedly threatened to kill himself and the family, assaulted the woman, broke out a window in the home, prevented her from leaving when she tried, and fired a 20-gauge shotgun into the ceiling of the home before eventually passing out from being under the influence, Bauman said.
Bauman said that at about 8 a.m. Thursday the woman escaped out of the home through a window and got a ride to Lucerne where she called the sheriff’s office.
Acting on the victim’s report that the children were still in the home with Brown, Bauman said sheriff’s deputies responded to the Elem Colony with assistance from the Sheriff’s SWAT team, the Clearlake Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.
After making entry, deputies determined Brown had left with the three children prior to their arrival. Brown was driving a black Dodge Durango and presumably still in possession of the shotgun, Bauman said.
Deputy sheriffs continued their investigation and manhunt throughout the day. Bauman said they located and arrested Brown without incident at approximately 4:20 pm. and transported him to the jail.
All three children were returned to their mother unharmed, Bauman said.
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