MCSO: Fort Bragg Resident Traumatically Beat an Elderly Man and Locked Him in a Storage Container

The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. This has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:

On 09-12-2023 at approximately 1:40 PM, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a suicidal adult male, identified as James Padgett, that was armed with a handgun in the area of Usal Beach, within Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.  Deputies were advised that Padgett was presently speaking with a crisis line operator and he admitted to locking a 72-year-old male victim in a shipping container at a residence located in the 23000 block of Seaview Drive in Westport, prior to arriving at Usal Beach. 

Deputies responded to the residence on Seaview Drive and located the shipping container.  Deputies unlocked the container and located the elderly victim, who had numerous traumatic injuries all over his body.  Deputies learned that Padgett had arrived at the residence and was confronted by the victim.  The victim attempted to summon law enforcement and was beaten with a lever-action rifle to the ground and then was dragged and locked inside the shipping container. 

Deputies obtained evidence from the location and then began responding to the area of Usal Beach to contact Padgett.

While Deputies were responding to Usal Beach, California State Parks Rangers contacted and detained Padgett without incident. Padgett was armed with a handgun at the beach when contacted and detained by State Parks Rangers.  Deputies arrived and interviewed Padgett and subsequently arrested him for the following offenses:

207 PC – Kidnapping
236 PC – False Imprisonment
368 PC – Elder Abuse
245 PC – Assault with a Deadly Weapon
136 PC – Witness Intimidation

Padgett was booked into Mendocino County Jail, where he was to be held in lieu of $100,000 bail. 

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank our public safety partners from the following agencies that assisted with this investigation: California State Parks, CalFire – Mendocino Unit, Chief Maxey and the Westport Volunteer Fire Department, and Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Ambulance.

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