Authorities: Linda man choked out wife, held her over bridge’s edge

Charged with multiple felonies

A Linda man is charged with multiple felonies, including kidnapping, after he allegedly dragged his wife to the E Street Bridge and choked her until she lost consciousness during an attack on Thanksgiving.

Jeffrey A. Bates, 36, was charged in Yuba County Superior Court this week with kidnapping, corporal injury of a spouse, criminal threats, and two counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. He has pleaded not guilty.

One of the assault charges involves Bates’ wife’s brother, who attempted to intervene, according to Deputy District Attorney Rory McBryde, who filed the criminal complaint Monday.

Marysville police were called to the bridge when an uninvolved citizen reported she believed a man was choking a woman on the structure.

“I arrived on scene and saw what appeared to (be) a male dragging/picking up a female from the ground,” Officer Stephen Jackson said in a police affidavit. “The female had blood on her lip and forehead and was visibly upset.”

She told the officer that Bates hit her and choked her until she blacked out, and she was held over the railing of the bridge with her feet off the ground, Jackson says. She said she feared for her life.

The kidnapping charge stems from the allegation that he forced her on the bridge. The law, in essence, defines kidnapping as moving a person by means of force or fear.

McBryde alleged Bates has been convicted of a prior strike offense, which could increase any sentence if Bates is convicted.

Yuba County court records show that in 2010, he was convicted of felony driving under the influence with three or more prior convictions. In 1999, he was convicted of felony burglary.

Bates is being held in Yuba County Jail with no bail.

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