October 6, 2017
UPDATE: BUTTE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE DETECTIVES RULE SUSPICIOUS DEATH A HOMICIDE
Oroville, Ca—Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Detectives have continued investigating the suspicious death in the area of Crystal Pines Road, in Oroville.
Circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, and limited information is available at this time. The incident is now being investigated as a homicide. Detectives have identified the decedent as John Prater, age 35, of Oroville.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the BCSO Investigations Unit at 530.538.7671.
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BUTTE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE DETECTIVES INVESTIGATE SUSPICIOUS DEATH
Oroville, Ca— At approximately 9:00 AM on October 5, 2017, Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) received a call from a citizen reporting suspicious circumstances in the area of Crystal Pines Road in Oroville.
Deputies arrived on scene and located a deceased male. Due to the suspicious nature of the death, BCSO detectives have launched an investigation into the incident.
The investigation is in the very early stages, and limited information is available at this time. More information will be released as it becomes available.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the BCSO Investigations Unit at 530.538.7671.
Contact:
BCSO Community Relations Unit
530.871.9440

October 5, 2017
BUTTE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE DETECTIVES INVESTIGATE SUSPICIOUS DEATH
Oroville, Ca— At approximately 9:00 AM on October 5, 2017, Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) received a call from a citizen reporting suspicious circumstances in the area of Crystal Pines Road in Oroville.
Deputies arrived on scene and located a deceased male. Due to the suspicious nature of the death, BCSO detectives have launched an investigation into the incident.
The investigation is in the very early stages, and limited information is available at this time. More information will be released as it becomes available.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the BCSO Investigations Unit at 530.538.7671.
Contact:
BCSO Community Relations Unit
530.871.9440

September 28, 2017
DEPUTY INJURED DURING BRIEF PURSUIT AFTER MOTORCYCLIST FAILS TO YIELD
Magalia, CA—On September 28th, 2017, just after midnight, Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Deputies attempted to pull over a subject riding a three-wheeler motorcycle on the Skyway in Magalia. The motorcyclist failed to pull over, and a brief pursuit took place.
The motorcyclist took a dirt trail located on Dogtown Road, where he had a minor collision into some brush. BCSO Deputy Cooper was able to catch up with the motorcyclist on foot, and attempted to remove the motorcyclist from the motorcycle; however, the suspect accelerated and took off again. Deputy Cooper hung onto the suspect until the suspect had another collision, which knocked Deputy Cooper off of the motorcycle.
Deputy Cooper was located by his patrol partner who determined he needed medical treatment. Deputy Cooper’s partner drove him to a local hospital where he was treated for minor injuries to his head, knee, and elbow.
Deputies have been unable to locate the motorcyclist. BCSO is asking anyone with information to please call 530-538-7322.
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For more information, please contact
BCSO Community Relations Unit
530.871.9440

September 27, 2017
PURSUIT LEADS TO TWO ARRESTS IN OROVILLE
Oroville, CA- On September 27, 2017 at about 1:20 AM, Butte County Sheriff Office (BCSO) Deputy Vincente Arredondo was patrolling the Oroville area when he observed a white Honda Accord with dealer paper license plates on it. Honda Accords are vehicles that are frequently stolen. It is also very common for vehicle thieves to remove the license plates from stolen vehicles and replace them with paper plates or license plates from vehicles that are not stolen in an effort to avoid detection by law enforcement. Deputy Arredondo attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle; however, the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. The vehicle fled from the city limits of Oroville south into the unincorporated area of Oroville reaching speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour. In the area of Dunstone Drive and Foothill Boulevard, the BCSO Impact Unit joined in on the pursuit to assist Deputy Arredondo. Deputies lost sight of the vehicle for a short amount of time near Lower Wyandotte Avenue and Foothill Boulevard; however the vehicle was quickly located after it had crashed off the roadway and collided with a fence and a tree. The occupants of the vehicle sustained no injuries in the collision, and were in the process of fleeing from the vehicle when Deputies arrived. The two suspects were taken into custody and placed under arrest. The driver of the vehicle was identified as 36 year old Christopher Johnson and the passenger was identified as 45 year old Jeremy Papesh. A subsequent records check of the VIN number on the vehicle revealed that the 2014 Honda Accord had been reported as a stolen vehicle out of Yuba City. The length of the entire pursuit was approximately 10 miles.
Christopher Johnson was subsequently placed under arrest for vehicle theft, recklessly evading arrest in a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle. He is currently being held at the Butte County Jail with a bail of $60,000.
Jeremy Papesh was also placed under arrest for possession of a stolen vehicle and is being held at the Butte County Jail with a bail of $15,000.
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For more information, please contact
BCSO Community Relations Unit
530.871.9440

Oroville, CA- The County of Butte’s Emergency Notification System, CodeRED, will be tested on Thursday, September 28, 2017, at 8:30 a.m., to validate telephone numbers in the county’s database. There is no need for action if you receive the call, email or text message. Emergency personnel are merely testing the system to ensure it is operational as needed, and to encourage additional residents to enroll to receive future notifications.

The Caller ID will read 800-791-3749 and the message will say, “This is a test of your community’s CodeRED Emergency Notification System. No action is required, this is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency you would have received important information from local officials. Again, this is only a test. If you would like to opt in additional numbers to the CodeRED system, please visit buttecounty.net/massnotification. Thank you.”

The process will increase the efficiency of the system and the speed in which notifications will be delivered when the system is used during an actual emergency.

Residents and businesses are encouraged to visit buttecounty.net/massnotification and update their contact information. You can now sign in to the system using your Google, Facebook or Twitter account. If your phone number is not in the database, you will not receive a call when we do launch an important notification. In particular, individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the past year and those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number, should add or update their contact information in the emergency database.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office urges citizens to download the CodeRED Mobile Alert App, which will allow you to receive notifications anywhere CodeRED is used.

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