Father and son arrested after 12-hour hostage situation in remote California
The two employees were conducting routine fieldwork when they were taken hostage, officials said. Jeremiah LaRue, the Siskiyou County sheriff, told reporters that the incident began Thursday morning before 11 a.m. when his office received a call from a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer reporting that a man had the two federal employees restrained with zip ties and was holding them at gunpoint inside a trailer.
The man was later identified as Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49. LaRue said Henrichsen was armed with an AR-15 and knives, and he told authorities he wanted to speak with the FBI. The call prompted a large-scale response from local sheriff’s offices, police departments, and the FBI. Negotiations began around 4 p.m. Thursday, and after more than 10 hours, the hostages were released after 2 a.m. Friday. Henrichsen and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, then exited the trailer and were taken into custody.
Eric Grant, the U.S. Attorney for the area, said both men will be charged with kidnapping of a federal employee. LaRue said his office had not previously interacted with Joseph Henrichsen. Newspaper articles and social media accounts indicate the father and son previously lived in Washington state, and in 2022 the Bellingham Herald reported that Joseph Henrichsen had been accused of a hate crime for allegedly harassing his landlords. That case was dismissed after a judge ruled Henrichsen incompetent to stand trial due to delays in admitting him to a state hospital.
Tom Schultz, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, said in a statement: “I’m grateful beyond words that both of our Forest Service employees taken hostage on the Shasta-Trinity national forest are home safe.” Authorities did not elaborate on what unfolded during the negotiations or on Henrichsen’s alleged motivations.