A former Bellingham resident and his son allegedly kidnapped two U.S. Forest Service biologists at gunpoint and held them hostage for 15 hours, according to federal charges filed in Northern California.
If convicted, the father and son face possible life sentences.
Four years earlier, Whatcom County prosecutors had accused Joseph Henrichsen of a hate crime for throwing fireworks at his neighbors’ home because it was owned by people of Ukrainian and Russian descent, The Bellingham Herald reported in 2022. Family members told a state psychologist that Henrichsen had become increasingly suspicious and hostile toward other people since his ex-wife died the year before, a judge ordered him to be admitted into an inpatient psychiatric facility within two weeks.
The judge dismissed the case about four months later because the state Department of Social and Health Services had failed to admit Henrichsen, who was still in Whatcom County Jail, according to the report. He was ordered to be evaluated for a civil commitment to a state psychiatric facility. It's unclear if anyone evaluated Henrichsen, who was released from jail at some point.
On Monday, federal investigators in Sacramento accused Henrichsen, now 49, and his 23-year-old son of kidnapping a pair of federal biologists working in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, prompting an intense and lengthy standoff with local and federal police.
Henrichsen was armed with an AR-15-style rifle on Thursday when he approached the two biologists studying frog habitats near the Gumboot Lake Campground about 25 miles south of Weed, Calif., according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Eastern California.
Henrichsen allegedly zip-tied the biologists’ hands behind their backs and walked them to his camping trailer where he and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, held them hostage for hours. At some point, investigators said Joseph Henrichsen left someone a voicemail using one of the workers’ phones, allegedly saying he had taken two “fed biologists” hostage, had “live rounds ready,” and requested to “talk things through” with an FBI investigator, according to the federal filing.
Someone reported the apparent kidnapping about 11 a.m. Thursday to the Siskiyou County sheriff’s office. Deputies responded and requested help from a slew of local and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said during a Friday news conference.
FBI crisis negotiators and SWAT officers responded and started communicating with the father around 4:30 p.m. He repeatedly refused to release the biologists, and at one point threatened to use a grenade if law enforcement agents did not back away from his trailer, according to the filing.
Joseph Henrichsen agreed around 1 a.m. to release one of the biologists, and released the second about six minutes later. Phoenix Henrichsen surrendered to police around 2:30 a.m., and his father emerged from the trailer and surrendered about five minutes later, the federal filing states.
Federal prosecutors in Sacramento charged the two men on Monday with kidnapping federal employees.
The two biologists were assessed at the scene and “are doing well,” LaRue said.
“We are very relieved and grateful,” LaRue said. “It’s been a very emotional past couple days.”
Brian Tosh, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Sacramento field office, asked anyone with information about the two men to contact the agency.
“Crisis situations like this don’t often result in everyone leaving the scene safely,” Tosh said during the news conference. “We are very proud of the work everyone did.”
If convicted, the men each face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, according to a statement Monday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
A LinkedIn page under the son's name says he attended Bellingham High School from 2019 to 2021.
A representative for the state Department of Social and Health Services did not immediately respond Monday afternoon to an inquiry about the father's 2022 hate crime case. Norah West, a spokesperson for the agency, said the department typically does not confirm their involvement in such cases due to confidentiality requirements.
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