The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has issued a press release concerning the arrest of Supervisor Tom Woodhouse on Friday night, Oct. 28, 2016. It should be noted that all people are innocent until proven guilty.
According to the release, sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance at the 600 block of Meadow Wood Lane in Willits, which is where Woodhouse lives, at about 8:30pm. Woodhouse exited his house and engaged the deputies and expressed “his displeasure of the Deputies presence.”
The deputies then allegedly saw him push his wife, “resulting in the Deputies making a decision to arrest him for misdemeanor domestic violence battery.” At this point Woodhouse “assumed a fighting stance” and a “struggle ensued.” He eventually managed to get free and flee into his house.
In a brief interview Captain Greg Van Patten, of the MCSO, said of Woodhouse, “he was highly aggressive towards the deputies.” He added that Woodhouse was tased once, and a deputy attempted to tase him a second time but there was a mechanical issue with the taser.
According to the release, a struggle ensued in the house. The taser was “ineffective” and eventually Woodhouse was subdued by three deputies.
He was arrested on 243(e)(1) PC (Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Battery), and 69 PC (Resisting Arrest). The victim was listed as a 63 year old female from Willits.
Woodhouse was taken to the Mendocino County jail, but released before booking because of a “medical condition not sustained as a result of the struggle with the Deputies during the arrest.”
Captain Van Patten added in an interview, “The organization itself is obviously reeling from this very sensitive situation. We did our best to treat Mr. Woodhouse as we would any other member of the public, and the enforcement action that we took is enforcement action we would’ve taken with anyone. We tried to treat him as fairly and equally, as with any other member of the public.”
He explained that Woodhouse was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery because victim was not injured.
The Willits News reported, yesterday, that Woodhouse had been placed on a 5150 hold. A 5150 is a mental health hold that can be placed on a person if they are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Van Patten said that he could neither confirm nor deny whether a 5150 was issued, because of the sensitive and private medical nature of that information.
For more coverage see our previous stories:
Supervisor Woodhouse Arrested on 5150 for Battery, Resisting
An Interview With Supervisor Woodhouse
Supervisor Woodhouse Misses 4th Consecutive Meeting
The full text of the release:
Incident Number:
2016-33600Crime/Incident:
69 PC (Resisting Arrest)243(e)(1) PC (Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Battery)
Location:
600 block of Meadow Wood Lane in Willits, CADate of Incident:
10-28-2016Time:
8:22 PMVictim(s):
Adult Female (63 year-old from Willits, CA)Suspect(s):
Thomas Woodhouse (64 year-old male from Willits, CA)Written By:
Captain Gregory L. Van PattenSynopsis:
On 10-28-2016 at 8:22 PM Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a disturbance at a residence located in the 600 block of Meadow Wood Lane in Willits, California.Upon arrival Deputies contacted Thomas Woodhouse who had exited the front of the residence and remained outside while verbally expressing his displeasure of the Deputies presence.
While engaging Woodhouse in conversation, the Deputies witnessed him push his wife resulting in the Deputies making a decision to arrest him for misdemeanor domestic violence battery.
As two Deputies walked towards Woodhouse he assumed a fighting stance and a struggle ensued as Deputies attempted to place Woodhouse into handcuffs.
Woodhouse was able to flee into the inside of the residence where an additional struggle with three Deputies took place resulting in a Deputy deploying a TASER device in an attempt to end the struggle without further violence.
The TASER device was ineffective and after a short time Woodhouse was eventually physically controlled by the Deputies and placed into handcuffs.
Woodhouse was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was subsequently released prior to booking because of a medical condition not sustained as a result of the struggle with the Deputies during the arrest.
Approved by:
Captain Gregory L. Van Patten
