Inmate overdue for jail return provokes standoff in rural Mendocino County

A tense standoff that unfolded over several hours between law enforcement officers and a suspect who was overdue to report to the Mendocino County Jail drew the regional SWAT team to rural Laytonville on Sunday ― finally resulting in an arrest when a police dog was deployed to subdue the man.

Christopher Ryan Brockway, 33, had missed his 8 p.m. Saturday return to the jail after a court-approved, two-day leave, law enforcement officials said.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, the Albion man led California Highway Patrol officers on a brief chase that ended in central Laytonville, where his vehicle became disabled on Branscomb Road and he refused to surrender, authorities said.

Brockway reportedly threatened officers at the scene with “suicide by cop,” meaning he did not intend to give himself up and would provoke lethal intervention by law enforcement, sheriff’s Capt. Greg Van Patten said.

Brockway has a long history of arrests involving drugs and weapons. He had recently been booked into jail for suspected possession of a firearm by a felon, forgery, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and identity theft, authorities said. A local judge had granted him a two-day release for reasons that were unclear Monday. Though Brockway’s official residence is on the Mendocino Coast, a deputy had seen him in the Laytonville area on Friday, as well, Van Patten said.

The SWAT team was called to Sunday’s standoff because of Brockway’s recent firearms arrest, Sgt. Miguel Vasquez said in a news release. When deputies were unable to mobilize a crisis worker from the county behavioral health department, a SWAT team crisis negotiator continued over three hours to try to persuade him to surrender, Vasquez said.

Brockway mostly had his car door open and repeatedly made stabbing motions with a knife, until he threw the knife onto the pavement, Van Patten said. Brockway finally agreed to exit the vehicle and appeared as though he might be preparing to surrender when he suddenly started moving back toward the car and the knife, Van Patten said.

That’s when a deputy fired a 40mm foam baton, as planned, striking Brockway in the upper leg, authorities said. Almost simultaneously, a police dog was released and bit him in the arm, making it easier for SWAT team members to subdue him and make an arrest, authorities said.

Van Patten said Brockway had a heavy coat on and sustained scratches and abrasions. He was cleared medically before he was returned to jail, where his bail was set at $90,000.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.