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Man with gun to be booked for attempted murder in Grand Terrace
Robert Lee Northrup, who allegedly pulled a gun on another man Tuesday outside a Grand Terrace daycare center, will likely be booked today on suspicion of attempted murder, according to a Sheriff's spokeswoman.
Northrup, 59, was detained after the incident but was not immediately booked because he was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries he sustained in a struggle with men outside the daycare center. He was later admitted to the hospital for a preexisting medical condition, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff's news release.
Northrup will likely be absentee booked today for attempted murder, said Sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller.
"As soon as he is released from the hospital, he will be transported to a county jail facility," he said.
Sheriff's investigators served a search warrant Tuesday afternoon at Northrup's home and found 15 assault rifles, 10 handguns, a shotgun and "numerous" loaded high capacity magazines, according to the news release.
Some of the weapons were legally registered to Northrup and others were not, Miller said.
Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/breakingnews/ci_18182282#ixzz1O3a7rLDF
Weapons found next to day-care center
San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies responded just after 9 a.m. to a report of a man with a gun outside Busy Bee Day Care, which until Tuesday afternoon operated out of a home at 12738 Wilmac Ave.
"The man was a neighbor to a day-care center in the neighborhood," said Sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller. "A grandfather was either dropping off or picking up (a child), and the neighbor seemed irritated with him."
He was irritated enough to pull a gun on the man as he sat in his truck with his grandson next to him, witnesses said.
A third man got involved, and he and the grandfather wrestled the gun away from the neighbor, Miller said.
Sheriff's deputies arrested a man but by Tuesday afternoon had not yet booked him, said spokeswoman Jodi Miller. Deputies took the man to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries he sustained in the struggle for the gun.
No one else was injured in the struggle.
The Sheriff's Department does not reveal the identities of arrestees until they have been booked.
Property records show that Robert Lee Northrup, 59, lived at the home. Neighbors confirmed that Northrup - whom some knew as "Bob" - was the man deputies arrested Tuesday morning.
Deputies served a search warrant Tuesday afternoon at Northrup's home on Wilmac Avenue.
By late afternoon, the deputies had pulled numerous weapons - handguns, shotguns, assault rifles and high-capacity magazines - and ammunition from the home and catalogued them in the home's driveway.
Investigators sought the search warrant after taking statements from neighbors and parents at the day-care center that the man had made comments about owning weapons.
Some parents who bring their kids to Busy Bee Daycare say Northrup has been a problem there in the past, and some have filed complaints with the Sheriff's Department.
"I've lodged three complaints (against Northrup) with the Sheriff's Department," said Joey Jouan, 29, who drops off his 4-year-old son at the daycare center every day. "We have to hear this guy rant and rave, and nobody comes."
Busy Bee Daycare is moving because of Northrup, Jouan said. Owner Betty Heck reportedly moved away from the home on Wilmac Avenue on Tuesday afternoon to get away from Northrup.
A call Tuesday to Heck seeking comment was not returned.
Neighbors said Northrup had a history of yelling at neighbors and posting threatening notes outside his home in full view of people living nearby.
But other neighbors say Northrup is a Vietnam veteran who - until now - hasn't received the help he needs.
James MacFarland, 25, lives across the street from Northrup and says the man is eccentric and often yells at neighbors, but isn't dangerous.
"He's a hermit," MacFarland said. "But he's harmless."
Gramp Has Some Thoughts:
Northrup needs help. That help may well be going to jail or to Patten or to confinement at a VA Psych Ward. However, the Sheriff's Department let this go on too long prior to getting the Vet help and the community free from the real risk of a massacre nightmare.
Is the day care a licensed facility? If it is the neighbors were put on notice that there would be such a business in operation. That includes of course the coming and going of the children. Home based business in GT are not supposed to have customers coming and going to the house. Apparently and by the nature of the business this code is not enforced on any of the Day Care Providers in GT Neighborhoods. Here is where the City should remove that code requirement for all businesses.
Is the day care a licensed facility: If it is not then there are problems. When a day care is being established there are inspections, and safety reviews. Parents who keep their children in a day care where they have the risk being presented as in this case should also be questioning their own judgment at this point. Why did they continue the use of a service in the proximity of a risk they seem to have recognized.
Checking the City's Business Directory on the City Web Page. Day Care Providers are not listed. Parents needing day care have no official site to look to for a licensed facility.
This episode has many lessons. Let's hope the Vet gets the help he needs. Let's hope the crime and punishment is fair and just. Many Vets with mental problems do not commit crimes. Day Care Providers need to know their Neighbors and the Parents of the Children should not file 3 reports and then keep their children in the same facility with the risk present. The Sheriff's Department and VA need to get their acts together.
