WILLITS, CA., 10/2/25 – Friends of a Willits man who died while being arrested have launched a GoFundMe campaign to support his family.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said that on June 5, Nicholas Bakewell allegedly assaulted a driver who had picked him up while he was hitchhiking northeast of Willits.
Body camera footage shows Bakewell resisted arrest and appeared to throw a punch at a deputy. The deputy responded by deploying a Taser. Officers from the Willits Police Department arrived and helped restrain and handcuff Bakewell.
Moments later, Bakewell lost consciousness. Despite efforts to revive him with Narcan, an opioid overdose medication, and CPR, he was declared dead at the scene.
In September, the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office said an autopsy found Bakewell died of asphyxiation from being restrained and a cardiac event. Contributing factors included intoxication from methamphetamine, psilocin and other drugs, and pre-existing medical conditions.
The case remains under investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Bakewell is survived by his wife, Adrienne, and three young children.
A GoFundMe was launched shortly after his death with a goal of raising $25,000 to cover funeral expenses and support his family.
“A thorough investigation is underway as the press release and articles being shared are not accurate according to many witnesses,” organizer Taylor Jones, a family friend, wrote on the campaign page. “We are humbly asking for any financial support the community can offer the family as they navigate funeral expenses and providing for his three children as they now have to grow up without a father.”
The fundraiser had collected $7,375 as of Thursday, which Jones said covered the cost of a funeral held in August.
“We are deeply grateful for the overwhelming generosity shown by our loved ones, peers and strangers,” she wrote. “It meant the world to his family to see the community come together in such a powerful way to remember our guy.”
Information about the GoFundMe, which remains active, is available at https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-the-bakewell-family.
Actually, the coroners report said he died of homicide with those factors contributing.
I hate when reporters lie when reporting things like this.
I’m sorry but this discredits you as a writer. You write in your article “Bakewell is survived by his wife, Adrienne…” but then you use the name “Amanda” in the description of your image. It’s already an unfortunate event that occurred, but one should double check before uploading something like this.
Stacy – Thank you for reading and catching that error. We have updated the photo caption to reflect that her name is Adrienne. It was not an intentional error. Our apologies for the editorial oversight and mistake. -Sarah