Fort Bragg man arrested after assault in Ukiah

A Fort Bragg man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting and injuring a Ukiah man this week, the Ukiah Police Department reported.

According to the UPD, officers responded to the 100 block of East Gobbi Street around 2:15 p.m. March 31 for a report of an assault involving two men.

When a responding officer approached the intersection of East Gobbi Street and the Great Redwood Trail (Rail Trail), he was “flagged down by multiple concerned citizens that were tending to an injured man.”

The victim, identified only as a 61-year-old Ukiah man, was described by the officer as having “sustained traumatic injuries to his face and head, and was in need of medical treatment.” Emergency medical personnel were then summoned to the scene.

Also according to the UPD, “multiple eyewitnesses” reported that the victim had been “casually walking down the street (before being) punched multiple times, thrown to the ground, and kicked in the head by the suspect, who was described as “a black male adult wearing sweatpants and no shirt … who fled on foot towards Safeway.”

When the officers searched the area, they located the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Fort Bragg resident Curtis Bettencourt, “on the west side of Safeway.”

Bettencourt, whom the UPD describes as having a known “history of drug use and violent behavior,” was also reportedly “immediately non-compliant, refused to submit to detention, and took a fighting stance, (balling) up his fists and began making punching motions, leading the UPD Officer to believe that Bettencourt was preparing for a physical altercation.”

The officer then “deployed his conducted energy device (TASER) at Bettencourt, which achieved neuromuscular incapacitation so Bettencourt was able to be restrained in handcuffs without” any reported injury to the officer or suspect.

The victim, who reportedly had “multiple head wounds,” was transported to Adventist Health Ukiah Valley for treatment; the suspect was also transported to the hospital for “precautionary measures.”

After being evaluated at the hospital, Bettencourt was booked into Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of assault resulting in great bodily injury, resisting arrest, and possession of drug paraphernalia.