Drunken man arrested in machete attack at Comptche store has a story too. Senior citizen took weapon from younger man, gave it to cops

This is all old news that we are just getting from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department in a press release Monday about 6 p.m about a machete attack fought off nearly a week ago. But it hit all my rivals like a lightning bolt this afternoon. Why? Only one reason! Someone issued a press release! News to them is sending out official government news that makes everybody arrested seem guilty also made it seem like it was current news because to them, news starts when the government issues a press release.

A Comthche store employee, back on Thursday, 7-3 called the sheriff’s department about “an intoxicated man causing a disturbance.” When the clerk told the troublemaker they were calling the cops, the guy ran into “a wooded area” north of the store.

So far its just another story of an apparently sad 43-year-old human who apparently inflicted terror on another, much older man. The suspect is an electrical engineer, whose court files show got caught up in drug problems after graduating from college in the Dakotas.

He is described as a transient in the press release from the sheriff, which is accurate, but seeing it blasted out in press release format and widely published as fact makes my skin crawl a bit, as the universal press release only news of the Mendocino County media in 2-25. He had a job for 10 years, according to his resume info, he had a full life. He had an address in Oregon and Siskiyou County and then Ukiah before becoming transient sometime recently. Knowing that, can one help but wonder about his story? What went wrong? Can he get help and get back to his career? I’d like to tell this story or others if I can, if I can. My rivals won’t. They tell only the law enforcement version always and I have never seen anyone but the AVA now “reporting” follow up when people are found not guilty or charges are greatly reduced.

I don’t know this man and I’m sure if I did I would have a much different story than the one authorities have provided. That being said, there is no reason to distrust anything they say, as they have a strong record of fairness and accuracy in telling the story from the police point of view. It’s not the cops’ job to put the suspect’s side of the story in a press release. It’s the job of the media….. and boy are we utterly failing at it!!

At mendocinocoast.news we will continue with integrity to gather information beyond the official version and print real news stories, not simply press releases provided by government and corporate power that now controls all of the narrative, thanks to us tucking our tails between our legs as a profession and being terrified to challenge anyone in power.

. You can read the official take word-for-word in all the other media. Here is a bit of the press release;

“The suspect is accused of attacking a 74-year-old man on 21000 block of Redwood Ridge Road about 7:40 p.m on July 1.”

Redwood Ridge Road is located to the northwest of Boonville This address is out more than 3 miles on a winding road. Turn west just north of the Boonville Hotel, from the map I looked up. The press release said the officers came from Ukiah on Tuesday, and by the time they got there over 253 then out that road, the senior citizen had mastered his young attacker by grabbing the machete and taking it away. The younger man was gone. The victim suffered a cut to his hand. First responders treated him.

The cops learned the two men knew each other, and apparently that the fleeing suspect seemed to present no threat to the denizens of the Anderson Valley, which is why we didn’t hear about it till 4 days after the arrest. This is a judgment call we have to rely on the police to do, which is fine. Also, the police don”t release names of victims in cases like this, which they did do when I started in journalism. I think its much better NOT to have victim’s names. I never liked that.

The press release said the victim identified the suspect as 43-year-old Ryan Stearns. “Stearns had entered the victim’s residence without warning and brandished a machete-style tool above his head as he approached the victim. The victim attempted to defend himself and was able to physically resist the machete attack. During the struggle the victim’s hand was cut, and Stearns fled the scene. The victim shared Stearns lived a transient lifestyle”.

The victim gave the cops the machete he had taken away from the younger man.

On Thursday, the deputies came back to Boonville after reported sightings of Stearns in the Boonvile and Navarro area on a motorized bicycle. They had searched for him and investigated the case. There were reports that he rode the contraption along Orr Springs Road on backroads to Navarro and Ukiah.

Back to the Comptche Store:

“An extensive ground search was conducted, and Stearns was eventually located hiding in a thick wooded area.”

Off to jail he went.

“Stearns was booked for charges of 245(a)(1) PC – Assault with a deadly weapon, 459 PC – Burglary, and 368(b)(1) PC – Elder abuse resulting in injury. Stearns was to be held in lieu of $50,000.00 bail”

I am not sure about this elder abuse charge. Doesn’t sound like the senior citizen had any trouble! Of course it’s possible the victim was a relative, which would make the case sadder yet. I won’t ask and the cops probably wouldn’t tell more than the age.

That being said, all these cases have two sides to them or more. The local media, except for Bruce Anderson and the AVA does not ever follow up beyond the press releases they print. This creates the impression that everyone arrested over the last 5 years has been guilty.

We pledge to follow up on any story we write about if somebody requests it, especially.

I have been reading news papers lately that go back over 125 years These are newspapers in Mendocino Countyl I have been a regular participant in reporting the news here since 2004, including 14 years reporting for the Advocate/Beacon. When I left that newspaper, the building was still full of my friends and colleagues. All were shortly thereafter cost cut out of existence. The news we have today is the WORST it has ever been in the entire history of Mendocino County. Rarely does anyone ever question any official line about anything at this moment in time. I read columns by William Heeser, the founding journalist of the Mendocino Coast. The bard of Lansing Street. I was reading his columns from the 19th century. Heeser was a cantankerous old SOB who I felt kinship with on several levels, lol. He was a true black and white and read all over true journalist, who knew he had to push authorities and was willing to say unpopular things. For example, he decried the reckless cutting of timber and the arrogance of the timber operators. I found myself screaming at him about 2:30 in the morning when he wrote about the treatment of Natives. As an educated and intelligent man with an artful pen that could slice deeply, he knew how wrong it was. But he never REALLY said so, instead insulting those who thought themselves better than Indians, even describing the humanity of a Native person he met. He took the high ground, intentionally too high to get him run out of town. If he is somewhere in heaven, I wonder how much he regrets that failure of morality and courage.

All the versions you read in Mendocino Voice, Redheaded Blackbelt, and whatever that is that was left behind when the cost cutters sold off the Beacon, Advocate and Ukiah Daily Journal will be the same from the authorities’ mouth to you. The massive onslaught by all these sites against a person accused of a crime and singled out for a press release has devastated many lives.

This business of publicizing official versions of everything never used to be the case. It’s great the cop shops are run as well as they are. But in the future, we really need a press that fact checks and does follow up. The way it used to be done is that a reporter looked at all the arrests and all the bookings in the jail. Every one was written down and made what was called the police blotter. If one was to be pulled out for a story, research was done on the person and a police report was looked at to get the facts. It was imperative that reporters nor cops picked out what was news. And the cops were not allowed to tell the story in police jargon. Reporters checked the facts and the background of the person arrested or even the officer doing the arrest. Those put in the blotter were just the facts. The journalist chose the newsworthy ones and had standards about what to report. But now the cost cutters are happy to have th government be their reporters. And its the same with all news, no official narrative is questioned, non profit, business or government.

When I was a kid reported in the early 80s I was inspired by the professional integrity and ethics of the journalists who taught me. They never doubted for one second they had an important role to tell the truth with fairness and with as little bias as possible. Early on, we were educated in how we had to work harder to tell the stories of women, who were rarely quoted compared to men, for example I worked hard to count the sources I used and ask if I had leaned too hard on other white men. I did. I did better.

I was also inspired by the public defenders, prosecutors, cops and yes the even more reviled “bureaucrats” . They knew their jobs and did them with professionalism. I might play hoops with a cop and we would call each other names and drink brews and argue furiously about Wilt versus Jordan as GOART but that cop, a good. one, and most are, had a strict boundary as a law enforcement pro and I did as a journo. They still do. Cops are better now, truly. But we as a profession, have lost our way. We don’t do our jobs and check on them, don’t listen to the other side or even seem to know there is one.

We ALWAYS welcome news tips at Mendocinocoast.news, updates and news information for us to do complete and accurate follow up on our stories. What’s important to you is important to us.

I covered the courts for many years. We have an excellent court system in California but innocent people are arrested and tried at times. We told people that. Nobody will tell you that now. Innocent until proven guilty is not just an axiom, its true. I have no idea about guilt or innocence this case, BTW, its a universal truth that we in the media should try to get back to in all cases.

Defense attorneys, prosecutors, cops and gadflies are all welcome to contact us at frankhartzell@gmail.com