The frontman for a California-based punk rock group is being held on a $100,000 bail after allegedly committing a bizarre and violent string of actions, some of which took place at Yosemite National Park.
According to the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office, Anthony Mehlhaff, 40 and of Los Angeles, is accused of the following actions:
On Wednesday, August 21, at about 1:45 p.m., Mehlhaff reportedly walked up to a pregnant waitress at a Buck Meadows area restaurant and touched her stomach saying "the spirits led me to you and your baby belongs to me, and what time is your break because I will be waiting for you."
Mehlhaff then allegedly stole several drinks and assaulted another employee before hopping in his vehicle and speeding toward Yosemite National Park.
Multiple calls were placed by witnesses to emergency dispatch, reporting everything from a possible car chase to a kidnapping to assault to a stolen vehicle, all occurring near the Fish Camp area.
With Mehlhaff reportedly now inside of Yosemite National Park, rangers attempted to stop him. He eventually crashed in the Fish Camp area and stole a bike, reportedly stripping off his shirt and giving it to a bystander while saying "you'll want to keep this, I'm going to be famous."
At that point, Mehlhaff is said to have entered the Tenaya Lodge kitchen through a back door, placing personal items into the fridge and grabbing a knife, which he allegedly used to threaten workers.
Eventually, Mehlhaff reportedly made his way to a creek by the building and stripped down to his underwear, dropping his wallet and car keys, as well.
Mehlhaff is then said to have entered the Tenaya Lodge Clubhouse, telling customers to leave or risk being in danger. At that point, he's said to have started vandalizing the facility before taking a store manager's car keys and attempting to kidnap the store manager while demanding the manager drove him out of the area.
The store manager managed to escape, but Mehlhaff still allegedly took his vehicle and hopped on Highway 41 toward Oakhurst. While driving, Mehlhaff reportedly started a road rage incident with a Tesla, which allegedly culminated in him ramming the Tesla multiple times while driving.
Eventually Mehlhaff reportedly crashed and was taken into custody, booked into the Mariposa County Jail. Later, a smoke grenade was reportedly found in the vehicle registered to Mehlhaff, which prompted a bomb squad response.
“This man drove all around our county terrorizing our visitors and community members," said Sheriff Jeremy Briese. "I am extremely happy that no one was seriously injured, this man’s behavior was erratic and dangerous. This is just a glimpse of what we encounter at any given time. I am proud of the work done by our staff and partnerships built that give us the ability to apprehend criminals who continue to harm our communities.”
Anthony Mehlhaff is the vocalist for a band called Cancer Christ . Their latest album is called God is Violence. Fans of the band on Reddit had been speculating about the welfare of the band in days leading up to this reported incident.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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