Deputies Search Laytonville for Armed, Dangerous Felon After Judge Orders His Release

It took a SWAT team to arrest Benjamin Austin Miller on Aug. 1. It may take another to put him back in jail after a judge ordered his release six days later.

A week after Judge Victoria Shanahan granted a request to release Miller on his own recognizance, Mendocino County sheriff's deputies were back in the field on Monday morning, searching the woods and trails around Laytonville for him.

Sheriff Matt Kendall said Miller, 48, should be considered likely armed and dangerous. Members of the public should not approach him, Kendall said, but should instead call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Court records reviewed by MendoLocal.News show Miller has a Mendocino County criminal history stretching back nearly three decades, including multiple prior felony convictions and state prison terms, a 2016 felony domestic-violence conviction and a 2024 felony conviction for vehicle theft.

“Some people do life in prison,” Kendall said in an interview with MendoLocal.News. “And some people do it on the installment plan.”

Kendall said he has had to pull deputies and detectives from other assignments to take Miller back into custody.

“We don’t have enough people to cover calls for service,” he said. “I’ve got almost all my resources dealing with him when he should be sitting in jail.” Kendall said he was worried for the safety of his deputies and for Miller's own safety, given his history of resisting arrest.

MendoLocal.News asked Judge Shanahan and the Mendocino County Superior Court whether they wished to respond to the sheriff's criticism of the release decision. Judges generally do not comment on pending cases, and the court did not respond by our deadline.

According to Kendall, Miller's father reported early Sunday that his son had come onto the family's Laytonville-area property despite a restraining order and appeared to be carrying a rifle.

Deputies rushed to the property after the report, Kendall told Redheaded Blackbelt, but Miller — whose father had told him he was not allowed there and that law enforcement had been called — fled before deputies arrived. Deputies searched the area but did not find him.

Kendall said Miller grew up nearby and knows the surrounding trails and woods.

Gunshots were reported in the area during the search, but Kendall stressed that investigators have no evidence Miller fired them or assaulted anyone.

“We're aware that people were reporting gunshots,” he told Redheaded Blackbelt. “We have absolutely no evidence of felonious assault.”

A Laytonville resident told Redheaded Blackbelt that multiple law enforcement units had gathered near 2000 Branscomb Road while other personnel appeared to be operating a drone, describing “an active dragnet search for Ben Miller.”

The resident also said Miller had been spotted running along a creek bed near the Laytonville Rancheria.

As of late Monday afternoon, Miller remained at large.

Miller's arrest

Miller's latest encounter with the Mendocino County judicial system began at about 2:30 p.m. July 31.

According to a Mendocino County Sheriff's Office press release, a deputy contacted Miller near Tomki Road and Cave Creek Road in Redwood Valley. Miller was being sought in connection with several ongoing burglary investigations and was named in a misdemeanor warrant alleging destruction of evidence.

Miller fled in a Dodge SUV, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies later seized and searched the vehicle, reporting that they found property and documents associated with Miller, along with live ammunition.

Because Miller's prior convictions bar him from possessing firearms or ammunition, investigators obtained an arrest warrant and a search warrant for a Willits residence associated with him.

About 4 a.m. Aug. 1, the Mendo-Lake Regional SWAT Team served the warrant at a residence on East San Francisco Avenue in Willits. After a brief standoff in which Miller initially refused to come out, he was arrested without further incident, the Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies reported recovering multiple firearms, ammunition and firearm accessories inside the residence, including an SKS rifle that they said they were examining as possible evidence in a residential burglary investigation.

Miller was booked on allegations that included being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition, as well as destruction of evidence. Bail was set at $37,500.

Release and missed court appearance

Roughly a week later, on Aug. 7, a Superior Court judge released Miller on his own recognizance.

Kendall said the District Attorney's Office had opposed the release and that the Probation Department had assessed Miller as having a high likelihood of reoffending.

“A blind man could see this coming 100 miles down the road,” Kendall said in an interview with Redheaded Blackbelt.

Miller did not appear for a court hearing on Aug. 13, when the court ordered a warrant for his arrest.

“I feel like the system is absolutely not working,” Kendall told Redheaded Blackbelt, noting that the jail had room for another 106 detainees.

Previous search

It is not the first time Miller has prompted a manhunt.

In January 2025, deputies searched a rural property in the 24,000 block of Sherwood Road near Willits after a man rang a homeowner's doorbell asking for gas and money and mentioned a firearm on the home's Ring camera, Redheaded Blackbelt reported.

Deputies identified the man on the camera as Miller, then a fugitive with multiple felony warrants, according to Capt. Quincy Cromer. Miller had abandoned his truck and vanished before deputies arrived.

“After numerous hours, we did not find him,” Cromer said at the time.

Anyone who sees Miller or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at (707) 463-4086, option 1, or the anonymous tip line at (707) 234-2100.

The allegations against Miller have not been proven in court, and he is presumed innocent unless and until found guilty.

This account draws on an interview with Sheriff Matt Kendall, a Mendocino County Sheriff's Office press release, reporting by Kym Kemp of Redheaded Blackbelt, and Mendocino County Superior Court records reviewed by MendoLocal.News.