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Yreka, Calif. —
Joshua Lee, the 33 year old Montague man wanted for attempted murder, was arrested yesterday evening after barricading himself inside a Yreka apartment with a hostage and threatening to kill himself, according to the Yreka Police Department.
Lee was shot once in the chest with his own pistol during a struggle with authorities, said YPD chief Brian Bowles. The hostage was not harmed and Lee’s injuries were not life threatening.
He was arrested for several charges, including kidnapping, false imprisonment and felon in possession of a firearm, according to Bowles.
As of Friday morning, Feb. 3, Lee was being treated at Fairchild Medical Center in Yreka.
Authorities had been searching for Lee, who had been released from State Prison on Jan. 11, since Tuesday evening, when he allegedly kidnapped his wife at knifepoint from the Yreka Motel, drove her toward Hawkinsville and stabbed her, said Allison Giannini, spokesperson for the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department.
A task force comprised of members of the Sheriff’s Office, YPD, California Highway Patrol, the Siskiyou County-wide Interagency Narcotic Task Force, and Siskiyou County Probation worked throughout the day on Feb. 1 to find Lee, Bowles said.
Lee was officially considered “armed and dangerous.”
At an 8 p.m. briefing, authorities were alerted to the possibility that Lee was at the Turre Street Apartments in Yreka.
Minutes later when they arrived at the scene, Lee barricaded himself inside one of the bedrooms in Apartment 7, Bowles said.
A woman and a child who were also at the residence got out immediately, but Lee held a male adult hostage inside the bedroom with him, according to Bowles.
Negotiations immediately began, Bowles said, and the Turre Street Apartments and a half city block were evacuated.
Lee had a pistol and was making threats against law enforcement officers as well as suicidal threats, said Bowles. Lee remained inside the bedroom for more than an hour before an opportunity became available for authorities to disarm Lee, said Bowles.
The YPD chief described how Lee was struck once in the chest area with a bullet from his own .22 caliber pistol during the struggle and immediately received first aid by emergency personnel from Mt. Shasta Ambulance who were staged nearby.
Bowles said doctors at Fairchild determined Lee’s injuries were not life threatening, and he was arrested on a no-bail warrant for violation of Post-Release Community Supervision, kidnapping, false imprisonment and felon in possession of a firearm.
Joshua Lee, the 33 year old Montague man wanted for attempted murder, was arrested yesterday evening after barricading himself inside a Yreka apartment with a hostage and threatening to kill himself, according to the Yreka Police Department.
Lee was shot once in the chest with his own pistol during a struggle with authorities, said YPD chief Brian Bowles. The hostage was not harmed and Lee’s injuries were not life threatening.
He was arrested for several charges, including kidnapping, false imprisonment and felon in possession of a firearm, according to Bowles.
As of Friday morning, Feb. 3, Lee was being treated at Fairchild Medical Center in Yreka.
Authorities had been searching for Lee, who had been released from State Prison on Jan. 11, since Tuesday evening, when he allegedly kidnapped his wife at knifepoint from the Yreka Motel, drove her toward Hawkinsville and stabbed her, said Allison Giannini, spokesperson for the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department.
A task force comprised of members of the Sheriff’s Office, YPD, California Highway Patrol, the Siskiyou County-wide Interagency Narcotic Task Force, and Siskiyou County Probation worked throughout the day on Feb. 1 to find Lee, Bowles said.
Lee was officially considered “armed and dangerous.”
At an 8 p.m. briefing, authorities were alerted to the possibility that Lee was at the Turre Street Apartments in Yreka.
Minutes later when they arrived at the scene, Lee barricaded himself inside one of the bedrooms in Apartment 7, Bowles said.
A woman and a child who were also at the residence got out immediately, but Lee held a male adult hostage inside the bedroom with him, according to Bowles.
Negotiations immediately began, Bowles said, and the Turre Street Apartments and a half city block were evacuated.
Lee had a pistol and was making threats against law enforcement officers as well as suicidal threats, said Bowles. Lee remained inside the bedroom for more than an hour before an opportunity became available for authorities to disarm Lee, said Bowles.
The YPD chief described how Lee was struck once in the chest area with a bullet from his own .22 caliber pistol during the struggle and immediately received first aid by emergency personnel from Mt. Shasta Ambulance who were staged nearby.
Bowles said doctors at Fairchild determined Lee’s injuries were not life threatening, and he was arrested on a no-bail warrant for violation of Post-Release Community Supervision, kidnapping, false imprisonment and felon in possession of a firearm.
Lee may also face domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon charges as a result of the Jan. 31 incident, Bowles said. Those charges would be brought by the Sheriff’s Department.
Bowles said this incident was “a very good example of teamwork and cooperation of all agencies involved.” He thanked all the residents who were evacuated for their cooperation and apologized for any inconvenience it caused them.
Lee, who was originally from Merced, had been released Jan. 11 from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation into Post-Release Community Supervision at the county level as part of state realignment procedures which were initiated on Oct. 1, 2011.
Siskiyou County Chief Probation Officer Todd Heie said Lee was first sent to prison as a result of a 1997 robbery. He first entered into the Siskiyou County Court system in 2003, and was sent to state prison again in 2004 on charges including domestic violence and possession of a firearm.
Lee was sent back to prison most recently on two counts of battery on a peace officer and escape from county custody.
To be eligible for release to the PRCS program at the county level, those offenses were classified as non-violent and non-serious, Heie said.
