Press release from the Arcata Police Department:
On Wednesday September 17, 2025, at 6:30pm, The Arcata Police Department arrested 36-year-old Fresno resident, Shaine Scott Haugen, for disrupting a City Council Meeting.
Haugen approached city council members on the dais during the meeting and had to be restrained by a city staff member. Haugen physically assaulted that staff member before being taken to the ground. A uniformed police officer assigned to the meeting, and the staff member struggled to subdue Haugen as he fought with them on the city council chamber floor. Several more officers responded, and together they were able to safely take Haugen into custody.
Haugen was initially contacted by the officer for drinking from a partially consumed 40-ounce bottle of beer, with a piece of paper protruding from the top, which resembled a Molotov cocktail. This item was confiscated by the officer before Haugen approached the dais.
Haugen was in possession of a Nerf gun with the handle painted black, which was protruding from the front of his body as he approached the dais. A search incident to arrest revealed Haugen was also in possession of a butterfly knife, pepper spray, and a methamphetamine pipe.
Haugen was booked and lodged at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on the following felony and misdemeanor charges:
· PC 403-Disrupting a Public Meeting
· PC 69(a)-Resisting an Executive Officer with Force
· PC 240/242- Assault & Battery
· PC 22810(a)-Felon in Possession of Tear Gas
· PC 21510(b)-Possession of a Switch Blade Knife
· HS 11364(a)-Possession of Drug Paraphernalia