A Ukiah man, identified as Justin Hietala, was arrested on June 24, 2024, following a series of violent incidents that included allegedly brandishing a knife at a woman and her children and carjacking a taxi driver at knifepoint.
The first incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. at 115 North Orchard Avenue, where a 39-year-old woman, along with her two children, was approached by Hietala in the McDonald’s parking lot. According to the Ukiah Police Department , Hietala brandished a knife and attempted to snatch the car keys through the driver’s side window while yelling obscenities.
The woman managed to fight off the attack by rolling up the window on Hietala’s arms, which forced him to cease the assault. She then drove to a safer location, but Hietala pursued her on foot and attempted another attack before she drove away to safety.
The victim reported the incident the following morning. With assistance from the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office Investigative Bureau, UPD identified Hietala through video surveillance. The victim later confirmed his identity from a photo lineup. She received medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital.
Further investigation revealed that Hietala was a registered sex offender who had failed to re-register following his release from incarceration on June 4, 2024, for a prior sexual battery conviction. Due to his failure to comply with registration requirements, Hietala was charged with a felony violation of 290.011PC. A UPD officer obtained a $1 million bail enhancement due to Hietala’s criminal history and the severity of the recent incidents. (Read the press release about the knife attack here)
Approximately twenty minutes after the first attack, at 9:51 a.m., UPD officers responded to another report at 275 South Orchard Avenue, where Hietala had held a knife to a taxi driver’s throat and stolen a silver Toyota Prius taxi. Hietala threatened to kill the driver before driving off in the stolen vehicle.
UPD used the FLOCK camera system to track the stolen vehicle’s license plate and issued a BOLO alert to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol . CHP officers located the stolen taxi on Southbound Highway 101 at Henry Station Road. They deployed a spike strip, successfully stopping the vehicle, and apprehended Hietala without further incident.
The taxi driver positively identified Hietala as the assailant. The stolen Prius was returned to the taxi company, and Hietala was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on multiple charges, including the initial assault, carjacking, and failure to register as a sex offender
(Read the press release about the carjacking here).
It must be stated that the charges 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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Lock him up and throw away the key!!!
That is a wonderful concept and what should clearly happen BUT.
As a preemptive measure before he gets set loose only to reoffend and he will.
I would suggest either dissolving or lopping off his Nards.
It’s difficult to think about what might have happened to that mother and her children if this madman could have evaded detection and escaped.
Yes! Lop off the Nards!
Chief Ten Beers strikes again ?
Skweetis, that sounds like something a crackhead would say. And it sounds like you obviously know him or you’re just out here being a crackhead troll, saying crackhead things.