Knife-wielding man who tried to stab Redding shoppers arrested 

REDDING, Calif., — Authorities say an intoxicated man seen brandishing a knife and attempting to stab customers outside a popular Redding restaurant and then outside a Safeway grocery store was arrested without injury after a brief standoff Saturday afternoon, Dec. 11.

Records indicate the man, since identified as Adam Culbreth, 45, of San Rafael, has been arrested at least twice in the last two weeks, first in Humboldt County on Nov. 28, and then in Trinity County on Dec. 10. In both cases he was released shortly after his arrest.

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City of Redding police officers were dispatched to the area around 4:30 p.m. after receiving multiple reports of a man brandishing a knife at customers at Lulu’s Restaurant in the 2200 block of Pine Street, Redding Police Corporal Aaron Hollemon has since said of the incident and arrest.

While officers were responding to the scene, they received updated reports that the man was following customers in the Safeway parking lot across the street from Lulu’s and was actively trying to stab people.

Officers who converged on the scene from around Redding arrested Adam Culbreth after he allegedly brandished a knife and tried to stab people, first outside Lulu’s restaurant and then a Safeway located across the street. Becki Jo Ellen first photo, Redding PD second and third photos

Responding officers located Culbreth standing on the north side of Safeway, near the grocery store’s loading docks.

“Culbreth refused several verbal commands of officers at the scene and began to walk away from officers. He eventually sat down on the ground and began to drink from an open container of alcohol,” Holleman explained; adding that the uncooperative man “continued to refuse the verbal commands of officers at the scene and passively resisted efforts to take him into custody.”

Officers quickly formulated a plan to approach Culbreth and safely take him into custody using a ballistic shield and other less-lethal force options and ultimately detained him without further incident or injury. 

Officers subsequently located a folding knife in Culbreth’s possession.

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After interviewing witnesses and victims, officers arrested Culbreth and he was later booked into the Shasta County Jail in Redding on suspicion of brandishing a deadly weapon other than a firearm, public intoxication, and resisting arrest.

Online jail records indicate he remains in custody in lieu of $2,500 bail or bond.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.