Chinese Camp Couple Threatens Another “Ruby Ridge” If Evicted

TCSO booking photo

Chinese Camp, CA – A man and woman being evicted from a home they rented in Chinese Camp threatened another “Ruby Ridge” standoff with deputies if they attempted to force him to leave.

It was a reference to the eleven-day siege that took place in 1992 in Idaho when a man wanted on firearm charges refused to give himself up to U.S. Marshals. On Friday evening, Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the area of Washington Street in Chinese Camp to evict the tenants, 42-year-old Robert Patrick and 36-year-old Maryanne Helus. When deputies arrived at the home, Patrick came outside. They explained that they posted the eviction notice and that he would be trespassing if he did not leave, according to sheriff’s spokesperson Ashley Boujikian. Patrick refused, telling deputies they could cite him and began walking back into the house, which resulted in his arrest. Meanwhile, Helus was screaming at the deputies to let Patrick go. Boujikian detailed that after refusing orders to put her hands behind her back, she was handcuffed.

This was not the first time deputies had tried to evict the two from the home. It was during a prior eviction attempt in November, that they told deputies it would be “Ruby Ridge,” if they tried to remove them, according to Boujikian. She added that the couple made similar threats in December, during a court proceeding where they were ordered to leave the residence.

Patrick was arrested for entering a dwelling without the consent of the owner and resisting or obstructing a peace officer. While he was being booked into jail, deputies found a small bag of methamphetamine in his pocket, and the charge of felony bringing a controlled substance into the jail was added. Helus was arrested for entering a dwelling without the consent of the owner and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.