A Sweet Home-area man was arrested Saturday, April 28, after allegedly assaulting his 79-year-old mother, Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller said.
Mueller said deputies responded at 12:45 p.m. Saturday to 28444 Liberty Road near Sweet Home after a report of a disturbance. Joyce Ritterbush, 79, reported that her 50-year-old son, Chris Walnum, who lives in a travel trailer on the property, had assaulted her.
Ritterbush said her son suffers from mental illness and was armed with a shotgun and pistol. She told officers that Walnum had pointed the firearms at her and had struck her with one of the guns in the head, leaving a cut on her forehead.
Deputies responded to the location and found there were several different residences at the listed address and evacuated all of the residents then secured the area and attempted to talk Walnum into exiting his residence. Walnum barricaded himself inside his 26-foot travel trailer and refused repeated calls by deputies to come out.
After a 2-1/2-hour standoff, deputies and officers from the Albany, Sweet Home, and Lebanon Police Departments assigned to the Linn County Regional SWAT Team gained entry into the residence and took Walnum into custody without incident.
Walnum was taken to the Lebanon Hospital for an evaluation and later lodged at the Linn County Jail on charges of Assault II, two counts of Assault IV, four counts of Menacing, and five counts of Pointing a Firearm at Another.