Man wielding machete arrested after foot pursuit
May 27—A homeless man was arrested on Tuesday by the Yuba County Sheriff's Office with assistance from a canine unit after fleeing law enforcement last week following an incident at a hotel in Linda.
William Lee Brooks, 36, allegedly broke into a hotel room in the 800 block of North Beale Road on May 20 around 6:50 a.m. and stole a laptop, caused a disturbance with another individual at the hotel, and possibly brandished a knife, according to sheriff's office spokesperson Leslie Williams.
The laptop was recovered by the victim, Williams said. Brooks allegedly ran from, resisted and threatened deputies with a large chain from a gate as he fled into the river bottoms area, where he was able to temporarily evade arrest.
On Tuesday around 10:45 a.m., a deputy located Brooks on Cedar Lane in Olivehurst and attempted to stop him as he ran with a machete through neighborhoods near Cedar Lane School. Brooks allegedly jumped several residential fences and Cedar Lane School was placed on lockdown temporarily as a precaution.
At around 11 a.m., Brooks was taken into custody after a struggle with assistance from the sheriff's office's canine unit Chase. The canine received a cut above the eye where Brooks struck it. After receiving treatment, Chase was released. No deputies were injured in the incident.
Brooks suffered a dog bite and was booked into jail after being released from the hospital. He was booked for two counts of assaulting a peace officer, obstruction, assault on a police canine, and violating parole.
As of late Wednesday, Brooks remained in custody and is ineligible for bail.
