By David Benda
Record Searchlight
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — The man whose body was found in a Redding alley on Friday had a criminal history in Shasta County that goes back to the 1980s.
The Shasta County coroner’s office on Monday identified the man as 46-year-old Brian Counts, said Janelle Bartolo with the coroner’s office.
Counts was among the first state prison inmates to be released back to Shasta County under California’s prisoner shift plan, according to court records. The plan transfers less serious offenders from parole agents to the county’s probation department.
Counts had been sentenced at least three times for driving under the influence. He also had been charged with obstructing and resisting arrest, weapons possession, and possessing controlled substances, among other less serious crimes like trespassing, being drunk in public and having an open alcoholic container on a public street, court records show.
Cesar Partida, executive director of the Good News Rescue Mission in Redding, said Counts had been to his shelter in the past but never stayed for long. Partida could not say how many times Counts had sought the shelter’s services.
“The folks do remember him spending a night or two and then he would go out again,” Partida said. The Good News Rescue Mission asks homeless people who stay longer than three days to do an intake, which requires them to provide personal information.
“We will try to hook them up with county services and try to help the homeless,” Partida said. “We try to do some case management.”
In 2007, a jury found Counts guilty of DUI with multiple prior offenses. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
A warrant was issued for Counts’ arrest in December for violating the terms of his release. He was arrested and arraigned Wednesday and released from jail on his own recognizance Thursday.
Counts had a hearing to determine whether to revoke his probation status scheduled for Jan. 31.
An autopsy to determine Counts’ cause of death was conducted Monday, said Mo Hern, a spokeswoman for the coroner’s office.
Counts’ body was found Friday morning in an alley behind Hinkle’s Market on Market Street in Redding. Police later said no foul play was involved.
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