On Thursday, July 5 at approximately 6:19 p.m., deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to Creekside Court in Laytonville to investigate an assault.

Upon arrival the deputies contacted Gordon Watts Jr., age 31, of Laytonville whose left forearm had been broken.

Watts told deputies that he observed Joseph Henry Mendoza, age 19, of Willits in the front yard of Watts’ residence, using a baseball bat to vandalize Watts’ truck and his motorcycle. Watts confronted Mendoza about the vandalism. Mendoza then struck Watts with the bat, breaking his left forearm.

Watts had a dating relationship at one time with Mendoza’s sister. Mendoza was reported to be angry about Watt’s treatment of her and this might have been the cause of the assault.

Mendoza was arrested later that evening in Fort Bragg. He was lodged in the Mendocino County Jail for assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism. Watts was treated at Howard Memorial Hospital for a fractured left arm and released.