Showdown in Berry Creek

A 62-year-old Berry Creek man with a history of gun violence was arrested by a Butte County Sheriff’s SWAT team on Tuesday (July 8).

A search warrant was served at the home of Andrew Frerks on Milsap Bar Road based on a domestic violence incident in June in which Frerks allegedly threatened his daughter and fired a gun, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Miranda Bowersox. The warrant was served specifically on suspicion of criminal threats, witness intimidation, tampering with a phone line and battery.

The SWAT team entered Frerks’ home and found him in the living room. Frerks reportedly made a move for a semi-automatic handgun, fumbled it and was arrested, the release said.

Frerks has a long history of run-ins with the law, court records show, including two DUIs, misdemeanor child molestation, and voluntary manslaughter of his 16-year-old son Jason, who was killed in a gunfight in 1989.