A Fresno man was arrested during Wednesday’s Arcata City Council meeting after approaching the dais while carrying what officials described as “a Nerf gun with the handle painted black, which was protruding from the front of his body.”
According to the Arcata Police Department, 36-year-old Shaine Scott Haugen had to be “restrained by a city staff member” as he walked up to the four council members seated just as public comment started around 6:30 p.m.
“Haugen physically assaulted that staff member before being taken to the ground,” the APD release states. “A uniformed police officer assigned to the meeting and the staff member struggled to subdue Haugen as he fought with them on the city council chamber floor. Several more officers responded, and together they were able to safely take Haugen into custody.”
In an email to the Journal, City Manager Merritt Perry confirmed he was the staff member cited in the release and said the city will “consider additional safety protocols prior to our next meeting,” which could include “limiting items brought in, police presence, etc.” But he did not “have specifics right now.”
According to the APD, Haugen was in possession of a “butterfly knife, pepper spray and a methamphetamine pipe.”
The release also states the suspect was “initially contacted by the officer for drinking from a partially consumed 40-ounce bottle of beer, with a piece of paper protruding from the top, which resembled a Molotov cocktail. This item was confiscated by the officer before Haugen approached the dais.”
Video of the meeting shows the council listening to a speaker, with several members casting looks at the side of the room opposite the podium, before the back of a person wearing a ski hat and backpack appears on screen walking toward them. The camera then pans to the speaker, who stops talking as the commotion takes place offscreen.
The video stops but what sounds like a struggle can be heard for a few seconds on audio before the recording stops completely and a placeholder stating the council was on a break comes up. The meeting resumed less than 10 minutes later.
Haugen was booked into the Humboldt County jail on suspicion of disrupting a public meeting, resisting an executive officer with force, as well as assault and battery, being a felon in possession of tear gas, possession of a switch-blade knife and possession of drug paraphernalia.
