Should be much love flowing from SoHum to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office today, as deputies foil some truly dangerous-sounding hombres from L.A. Palm Springs:

Yesterday at about noon Humboldt County Sheriff's Deputies were on patrol on Briceland Road near Redway. They saw a vehicle stopped at the side of the road with two people standing near the vehicle's opened trunk. The deputies made contact with the two individuals and inquired if they needed assistance ... While deputies were talking to the pair, two more men, Christopher Barkley and Jack Dye approached from the trees. One of the men, Barkley, started to walk away with his hands in his pockets. The deputies told him to take his hands out of his pockets and walk back to them; he complied. The deputies noticed that Barkley's sweatshirt was unusually bulky and conducted a pat-search for officer safety reasons.

As Deputies started to search Barkley he told them he had a loaded handgun in his pocket. A warrants check of Barkley revealed he was a wanted parolee. Deputies arrested Barkley ... The remaining three individuals were detained and the vehicle was searched incident to Barkley's arrest. In the trunk of the car deputies found an assault rifle, a shotgun, duct tape, ammunition, and ski masks ...

Further investigation revealed that the four individuals had arrived in Humboldt County with the intention of stealing marijuana from a home.

'Nuf respect to the ever-vigilant Sheriff's Office.

And sorry about the initial confusion between the greater Los Angeles exurb and the Palm Springian desert. It's all L.A. to me.

Press release (.doc)