COVELO, MENDOCINO COUNTY – A woman and her ex-boyfriend got into an argument at her home in rural Covelo, an inland community of Mendocino County in the valley between the coastal mountains and Mendocino National Forest. A call for help led to a standoff that lasted six hours.
On Thursday, May 8 shortly after noon, the Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call from a woman who said she had been attacked by her ex-boyfriend. A deputy and two Fish and Wildlife Department wardens were sent to the residence on Barnes Lane. According to a press release, the woman told them that her ex-boyfriend, William Reeves, had been visiting her, and that they had started arguing.
Barnes Lane in Covelo is sparsely populated.
She stated that she told Reeves he should leave, but he accused her then of “stealing his digital music.” She denied it, the argument escalated, and he reportedly threw her to the floor. She said she left the house and called 9-1-1, and he then threw a rock at her. The rock missed, but he punched her in the back of the head while she was on the phone. Reeves then went back into the house.
At about 1 pm, as the responding deputy and wardens were speaking with the victim, Reeves walked out of the house. They addressed him and asked to talk to him, but Reeves ran back into the house. They followed him in, but he went into a room, shut the door, and told them he had a gun. The officers backed out and summoned back-up. Meanwhile, Reeves barricaded himself, and said they would have to shoot him to get him out, and that he was going to burn the house down. He indeed started a fire and dared them to shoot him.
Booking photos from Mendocino County
The 20-year-old Reeves had a brief history with the Sheriff’s Department. In January of this year he was arrested for disorderly conduct (drunk in public) and also charged with resisting arrest when deputies tried to detain him. He has been noted as either a resident of Lakeport, in neighboring Lake County, and/or of Covelo as a transient.
The Sheriff’s Department sent both the SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team and the Crisis Negotiation Team out to the Barnes Lane location. There was a six hour standoff and negotiation before Reeves finally walked out of the house. He was arrested without further incident. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, intimidation of a witness, felony vandalism, arson on an inhabited structure, obstructing a peace officer, and on a warrant from his previous arrest. His bail at the Mendocino County Jail was set at $100,000.00.
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Ukiah Daily Journal: SWAT called to Covelo for barricaded ex-boyfriend
