William Duane Hillegeist denied release by Judge Feeney due to public safety concerns

William Duane Hillegeist, half of the Freshwater duo arrested on 3/6/14 was in court for 4 cases resulting from the incident below. Judge John Feeney presiding, Jason Sheets for the People and Public Defender Meagan O'Connell for the defendant.

Judge Feeney denied the request by O'Connell for supervised release.  Probation reports were received by the 

Court today. They were handed out to Mr. Sheets and Ms. O'Connell in court. 

After Ms. O' Connell spoke with Hillegeist, she told the court that he was a permanent resident of Humboldt

County, and worked for Mad River Builders. Ms. O'Connell addressed Hillegeist's previous failures to appear 

and said they were because he was out of town for jobs. "He promises to make all future court dates," said

Ms. O'Connell.

She added that he has 2 children, that number of his family members have medical issues, including his fiancee 

and he assists them. Ms. O'Connell requested Court grant him supervised release.

People objected.

Judge Feeney said that while he acknowledges that Hillegeist is a permanent resident and is sorry to hear about 

medical hardships, that supervised release request and releasing Hillegeist on his own recognizance  was denied 

due to the following reasons.

Judge Feeney said that the new charges included possession of a controlled substance, new offenses were 
committed while Hillegeist was out on OR bail and that Judge Feeney had concerns for public safety.

Bail Bonds were exonerated in 2 cases and bail was set at $10,000 and $25,000 in 2 other cases. Next 2 court
dates are March 17 at 3 p.m. and March 20 at 8:30 a.m.

Background:
On 03-06-2014 the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a man and woman yelling at each other at Freshwater park. Around the same time the call came in, a second citizen called on 911 stating they heard two gunshots in the area of the park.  While Sheriff’s Deputies and  a California Highway Patrol officer were enroute to the park, a third caller told Sheriff’s Dispatch they saw a man with a shotgun walking around in Freshwater Park. 

            

Based on a description of the vehicle, law enforcement searched for a truck which was found with a man and woman on Kneeland Road.  The truck was searched by the deputies for a weapon. While the deputies were searching the truck, Sheriff’s Dispatch told the deputies a passing motorist driving by the scene before law enforcement arrived; saw the male suspect with a hand gun and it appeared he just fired it. The passing motorist returned to Freshwater Park and showed deputies the area where he saw the shots being fired. Deputies located three spent 9mm shell casings on the ground at the entrance of Freshwater Park.

   The deputies who searched the truck located a loaded 9 mm semi auto handgun under the hood of the truck, wrapped in a basketball type jersey. The loaded magazine of the handgun was missing three rounds. Deputies also located a lap top computer that had been reported stolen to Eureka Police, along with approximately two pounds of dried marijuana and a scale. Deputies were able to determine during their investigation there was no shotgun, only a handgun.

The man detained was identified as William Duane Hillegeist, 31 years old and the detained woman Sara Balke, 26 years old, both residents of Eureka. They were both arrested and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where they were booked on charges of possession of marijuana, transportation of marijuana, possession of stolen property and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Their bail was set at $25,000.00 each.