Photo: John Cole Knauss
A recent press release from the Tehama County Sheriffs Office details the arrest of a man in Red Bluff for kidnapping and false imprisonment charges –
“On 08/23/20 The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office received a report from an adult female that she had been taken against her will from the City of Anderson to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam located at 1000 Sale Ln in Red Bluff Ca.
When Deputies arrived, they contacted the victim who reported that her neighbor, 39-year-old John Cole Knauss had lured her into his vehicle by offering her a ride to a nearby store. Once the victim was inside the vehicle Mr. Knauss drove the vehicle out of the area in the opposite direction of the intended location.
The victim told Mr. Knauss that she wished to exit the vehicle and he repeatedly denied her request and made several threats of violence towards her.
Mr. Knauss drove the victim to the area of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam which is about 20 miles from the location where the victim had entered Mr. Knauss’s vehicle on Ash Creek Rd in Anderson. During the drive Mr. Knauss ignored several traffic laws to prevent the victim from being able to exit his vehicle.
Deputies and officers from the California Highway Patrol located Mr. Knauss in his vehicle parked nearby at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam.
Mr. Knauss was placed under arrest and booked into the Tehama County Jail on the above listed charges.”
