2nd UPDATE: An autopsy conducted Monday, Dec. 11 concluded that Henry’s death was due to fatal injuries consistent with a fall. The death was found to be self-inflicted. UPDATE: The body of 22-year-old Erin Elizabeth Henry was found at the bottom of Elephant Rock, just south of the Westhaven exit on U.S. Highway 101, according to […]
Tom Chapman
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Zoellner Takes First Step Toward Suing Arcata for Handling of Lawson Case
Kyle Zoellner, a McKinleyville man who remains the sole suspect named in the April stabbing death of Humboldt State University student David Josiah Lawson, has filed an initial claim for money or damages against the city of Arcata. Zoellner was released after a pre-trial hearing in May, with Judge Dale Reinholtsen determining there was insufficient evidence […]
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TL;DR Drunk in Public
Didn’t have time to read this week’s cover story? We get it. Summer just disappeared in a blink and now it’s time to get ready for one of those famous rainy Humboldt winters. If you’d rather spend the weekend winterizing the house than catching up on current events, we put together a quiz from week’s […]
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Local Law Enforcement Leaders Promise to Protect Immigrants
Every pew in the small white United Methodist Church at the corner of Del Norte and F streets was filled on Monday evening, with people standing in the back aisles and sitting on plastic chairs in the overflow room. Many fanned themselves with programs. Spanish speakers wore headsets provided by the Humboldt Area Foundation, listening […]
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Drunk in Public
In the long, hot month of August, as ash fell from the sky, the sun and moon did a brief astronomical dance and the public’s attention darted from national tragedies like Charlottesville and local dramas like the arson and razing of Eureka’s Blue Heron Motel, law enforcement officers in Humboldt County quietly continued to work […]
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Police Chief on Shooting: Suspect Was Wanted, Officer Lucky to be Alive
Twenty-six-year-old Ervin Eugene Sweat Jr. was wanted on a pair of warrants and facing imminent arrest when he stepped out of a Ford truck and opened fire on police officers, initiating the gunfire exchange that killed him, Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman said at a press conference this afternoon. According to Chapman, Sweat fired at […]
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Arcata Police, Witnesses Describe How a Fight Erupted into Gunfire
Officers were approaching a parked car that they believed contained a man suspected of brandishing a firearm early this morning, when a 26-year-old man exited the vehicle and allegedly fired at least two shots at them, hitting a Humboldt State University officer in the leg and prompting the officers to return fire, fatally wounding the […]
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Officer Wounded, Suspect Killed in Arcata Plaza Shooting
A shootout in front of bar row on the Arcata Plaza around 2 a.m. left a Humboldt State University police officer wounded and a suspect dead. The officer’s injuries are considered serious but not life threatening. According to an Arcata Police Department press release, an APD officer was with the UPD officer investigating a report […]
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APD Touts Progress, Urges Patience in Lawson Investigation
Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman is asking for patience as his department continues to investigate the killing of of a Humboldt State University student last April. “It’s frustrating for people that nobody’s in custody and it seems like nothing’s happening, but that’s far from the truth,” Chapman says. “A lot of things have happened in […]
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Press Conference Sheds Little Light on Lawson Case
Two months and two weeks after the April 15 death of David Josiah Lawson, a 20-year-old Humboldt State University student who was fatally stabbed at an off-campus party, little in the way of new information has been made public. Today a group of Lawson’s family members and friends holding Justice for Josiah posters joined Arcata city officials […]
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Officials Announce Lawson Reward, Face Charging ‘Conundrum’
The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever fatally stabbed David Josiah Lawson on April 15 has swollen to $21,000, the city of Arcata recently announced. Meanwhile, Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman said the investigation remains ongoing some five weeks after Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Dale Reinholtsen dismissed a murder […]
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Lawson’s Mom Announces $10K Reward, Issues Emotional Plea to Witnesses
The mother of slain Humboldt State University sophomore David Josiah Lawson stood on the campus quad yesterday afternoon and announced a $10,000 award for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her son’s killer and issued an impassioned plea for witnesses to come forward. Flanked by family, Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman and a […]