Convicted felon found with meth and unsecured, loaded firearm

On Jan. 25, 2023, at about 11:18 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the Willow Creek area conducted a suspicious vehicle investigation on an occupied vehicle parked in a pullout on Highway 299.

Deputies contacted the driver of the vehicle, 53-year-old Joseph Richard Bartholomew, and observed drug paraphernalia in plain view. Deputies detained Bartholomew and conducted a search of the vehicle. During the search, deputies located over 8 grams of methamphetamine and an unsecured loaded firearm.

Bartholomew was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of convicted felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(a)), possession of a controlled substance while armed (HS 11370.1(a)), possession of a controlled substance (HS 11377(a)), carrying a loaded firearm not registered to the individual (PC 25850(c)(6)) and possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364).