On October 6, 29020, shortly after 7:330 AM, the Butte County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) responded to the 400 block of Justeson Road in Gridley for a reported assault with a firearm. BCSO deputies arrived on scene and learned that William Manes III, a 40-year-old Biggs resident, initiated an argument with a victim at the location. According to the victim and witnesses, during the course of the argument, Manes produced a firearm and used it to verbally and physically threaten the victim. Manes eventually left the location with the loaded firearm.

Deputied and detectives conducted follow-up, obtained an arrest warrant for Manes, and a search warrant for Manes' residence. In the late afternoon of October 6, 2020, deputied and detectives from the BCSO Felony Invesitgations Unit served the search warrant at Manes' resident, which is located in the 300 block of Aleut Street in Biggs. Several loaded firearms, including the one used during the altercation in Gridley, were recovered and removed from the property. William Manes III was taken into custody and booked at the Butte County Jail for felony charges of assault with a firearm, criminial threats, using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and a misdemearnor charge of exhibiting a firearm.

Manes' bail was set at $163,000. Manes is scheduled to be arraigned at the Butte County Superior Court on Friday, October 9, at 3 PM. The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with additional information about this investigation to contact Detective William Brewton or Deputy Brad Buchwalter at 530-538-7671.