One Man’s Alleged Spree of Violence Against the Homeless Ends in Mendocino County After a Willits Transient Is Brutally Bludgeoned

30-year-old Charles Logan Nutter allegedly brutalized two homeless men in Spokane, Washington, and then came south to Willits where he bludgeoned another homeless man. Washington officials issued a $1,000,000 warrant and he is facing two charges of attempted murder for the crimes in the northern state. 

At the back end of last week, he left Washington State after his first two alleged brutal assaults on two homeless men and struck south, possibly to put some distance between him and Spokane law enforcement.

His exact movements are unclear, but somehow Nutter found himself at “The Gateway to the Redwoods,” better known as Willits, California  

In the early morning of Friday, June 30, 2023, Nutter allegedly happened upon a sleeping homeless man. Authorities say Nutter beat another member of the homeless community with a bludgeon causing major injuries to his head and face.

With three random acts of violence targeting the homeless under his belt, Nutter went west towards the Mendocino Coast. The 30-year-old man reached the Pacific and found himself in Fort Bragg where he posed in front of the “Welcome to Fort Bragg” sign sending a photograph to his mother. 

Fort Bragg Police Officers eventually located and surrounded him underneath the Noyo Bridge–holding him at gunpoint as they took him into custody.

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Nutter now sits in the Mendocino County Jail facing the possibility of criminal charges for the beating of a local homeless man and extradition to the State of Washington where he will face two felony charges of attempted murder.

In a conference call with Willits Police Chief Fabian Lizaraga, Sergeant Stephen Gray, and Officer John Gale, we learned how law enforcement had connected the dots between Nutter’s alleged attacks on the homeless despite the 900-mile span between the crime scenes.

Officer Gale told us that sometime before 2:00 a.m. on June 30, 2023, Nutter crossed into Mendocino County and made his way to Willits. 

Around 2 o’clock in the morning, Nutter allegedly came across a homeless man asleep in the area of South Main Street and East Van Lane. In what Officer Gale described as a random act of violence, Nutter allegedly used some sort of bludgeon to strike the sleeping man on the face and head causing serious injury and requiring hospitalization.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Nutter was nowhere to be found and Officer Gale was left with a whodunnit. Scouring all point bulletins that could offer a clue, he came across reports of Nutter as a suspect in a similar spat of violence in Spokane. He found that the State of Washington had issued a $1,000,000 arrest warrant for Nutter for his alleged attempted murder of two homeless people.

Officer Gale got to work cross-referencing surveillance footage from around Willits that caught glimpses of Nutter with the photographs issued by the State of Washington. 

It was a match. Charles Logan Nutter, the man accused of attempting to murder two homeless men in Spokane, had made his way to the streets of Willits and continued his brutality. 

Approximately nine hours after Nutter is said to have assaulted the homeless man in Willits, a Be On the Lookout was issued for him to area agencies describing him as both an assault suspect and facing charges of attempted murder. 

Though the details are unclear, Nutter was under some form of surveillance that tracked his movements and activities. After allegedly bludgeoning the Willits homeless man, cell phone towers indicated he had traveled to the area of Fort Bragg in the afternoon. One of the BOLOs issued by authorities specified that he had taken a photo with the “Welcome to Fort Bragg” sign and sent it to his mother.

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Ring camera footage sent to us by a Fort Bragg resident actually captured the moment local police first caught sight of Nutter as he walked down a city street. That day he wore a dark-colored jacket with his hoodie up. When a police vehicle passed him going the opposite direction the officer immediately initiated a three-point turn. The jig was up.

The footage goes on to show Nutter picking up his pace as the officer drew near. The camera picks up the static voice of the officer’s loudspeaker telling the suspect to stop in the name of the law.

When officers arrested Nutter in the area under Noyo Bridge, they drew their firearms due to the distinct possibility of violence. 

Nearly 900 miles from where his alleged trail of violence began, it was over. Nutter was taken into custody. Three hours later, he was behind bars in the Mendocino County Jail.

He was booked on three felony charges: attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, and being a fugitive of justice.

This is not Charles Logan Nutter’s first rodeo. In November 2016, Nutter intimated he had a gun when robbing a Domino’s Pizza in Morgantown, West Virginia. He threatened the clerk, took cash from the register, and fled on foot. Within minutes of the strong-armed robbery, he was caught and charged with 2nd-degree burglary.

An arrest database indicates he was picked up in April 2017 for 2nd Degree Robbery. In January 2021, he was arrested for transfer of a stolen vehicle.

In April 2022, Nutter was arrested by the Atlanta Police Department for 2nd-degree burglary. Records indicate his address of record at that time was in Spokane, Washington.

A criminal complaint filed by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office has charged Nutter with the felony of being a “fugitive from justice” after fleeing from the State of Washington where he stands accused of “two counts of Attempted Murder and two counts of First Degree Assault.” 

The document reveals that after Nutter’s alleged crimes in Washington, a judge issued a $1,000,000 arrest warrant for his return.

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Despite leaving multiple messages with representatives of the Spokane Police Department, our inquiries about Nutter’s alleged attempted murders in Washington went unanswered. Officer Gale told us that the nature of the Washington attacks was very similar to the one in Willits.

Notably absent from the criminal complaint is Nutter’s alleged beating of the homeless man in Willits. 

Chief Lizaraga stressed that there is no ongoing threat to our community’s homeless population. With Nutter behind bars, Chief Lizaraga said our community is safe.

Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.  Nutter will stand in front of Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder for his arraignment where he will be read the crimes he stands accused of.

Remember, all charges associated with the assaults on the homeless have not been proven in a court of law. In accordance with the legal principle of the presumption of innocence, any individual described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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