NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County's sheriff said Tuesday that one man has been taken into custody and a second is still being sought for attempting to kill a deputy.
Sheriff Tom Allman said Christopher Skaggs, 30, of Redwood Valley was arrested Tuesday morning but his associate, 42-year-old Walter Kristopher Miller, a transient from Ukiah, was still being sought for shooting at a deputy Monday night.
Allman and Lt. Greg Van Patten held a teleconference with reporters Tuesday afternoon to offer an update on the developing situation.
The shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m. in the 900 block of Highway 253 in Ukiah, sheriff's officials reported.
A Mendocino County Sheriff's deputy – whose name has not been released – conducted a traffic stop of a sedan displaying an expired registration in the 1200 block of South State Street in Ukiah, according to a written report Van Patten issued earlier in the day.
Once the sedan stopped the deputy approached the driver’s window to contact the driver, but Van Patten said that when the deputy reached the window the vehicle quickly accelerated southbound on South State Street.
The deputy pursued the sedan, which reached speeds of approximately 80 to 90 miles an hour, van Patten said.
The sedan turned westbound on Highway 253 and slowed to speeds of approximately 50 to 60 miles an hour before swerving into the opposing traffic lane several times, even in the presence of blind curves in the roadway, according to Van Patten.
In the 900 block of Highway 253 the front passenger of the sedan – who Allman said detectives believed was Miller – partially exited the open passenger window and shot five to six times at the deputy's patrol vehicle with a handgun from a distance of about 35 yards.
One of the bullets struck the patrol vehicle's radiator, leaving the patrol vehicle inoperable, Allman said.
Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies from across the county converged on the area in an attempt to locate the sedan, which was last seen traveling westbound of Highway 253, officials reported.
Allman said the California Highway Patrol, Ukiah Police Department, Cloverdale Police Department, Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, Santa Rosa Police Department and Sonoma County Sheriff's Office – which sent nine deputies – assisted in the search.
At around 11 p.m. Monday a deputy located the sedan, abandoned in a driveway leading to a residence located in the 6000 block of Highway 253. Allman said the home's residents were not aware of the vehicle's presence.
He said a reverse 911 call was initiated to residents in the surrounding area.
During a search of the driveway near the sedan deputies found a number of items that Allman and Van Patten said showed the suspects' path of escape, which was on foot.
Among the findings were items that Allman said had been reported as stolen from a residence on Van Arsdale Road in Potter Valley earlier in the evening, Van Patten said.
Allman said that five firearms – including three handguns, a rifle and shotgun – were taken in the burglary.
One of the handguns, which had a 30-round magazine, matched the description of the weapon Miller allegedly used to shoot at the deputy, he said.
None of those guns were found in the sedan, Allman said.
What they did find was “a considerable amount of ammunition” all over the car, he added.
Allman said the California Department of Justice is assisting with processing the vehicles.
He said sheriff's detectives worked the case through the night and are continuing to follow up leads.
At about 9 a.m. Tuesday detectives were tipped about Skaggs' location, and he was apprehended following a brief foot chase not far from where the vehicle was abandoned. He was not armed at the time of his arrest, Allman said.
Allman said they intend to charge the men with attempted murder of a peace officer, and are working side by side with Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster on forming the case.
He said Skaggs also was being sought on an unrelated burglary and robbery incident that occurred Feb. 19, and that he had been due in court on Tuesday in connection with a vehicle pursuit that occurred last year.
Allman called Skaggs a “109er,” a person released from state prison due to AB 109, the state's correctional realignment legislation.
“He is the kind of criminal that belongs in state prison and not county jail,” said Allman.
Miller, who is still at large and believed to be armed, was arrested for parole violations three times last year in Sonoma County, with the latest arrest taking place in December, Allman said.
“He extremely dangerous,” Allman said of Miller, who is believed to still be in the Ukiah area.
Anyone with information on the current whereabouts of Miller is urged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086 or the Sheriff's Office Tip-Line at 707-234-2100.
Area residents wanting to receive reverse 911 alerts from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office on their cell phone can visit https://alerts.deltalert.com/optin/start.xhtml?clientId=172425218 .
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