Paradise man drives off cliff in apparent suicide ahead of sex assault court date, authorities say
A Paradise man facing sexual assault charges drove off a cliff to his death hours before a scheduled court appearance in what’s being ruled a suicide Monday morning, authorities with multiple law enforcement agencies said this week.
Aaron Douglas Burrows, a 51-year-old resident of Paradise, was scheduled to appear in court for jury selection Monday after being charged with sexually penetrating a 9-year-old, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Monday.
Cal Fire’s Butte Unit reported the same day on Twitter that fire crews were responding to reports that a vehicle had driven “over the edge” next to Lookout Point, a vista on Skyway Road that overlooks some of the ruins of the Camp Fire.
Personnel found the vehicle at the bottom of the cliff and extricated the victim, who was already determined to be dead, Cal Fire said.
The Butte County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office confirmed the identity of the deceased as Burrows, and sheriff’s officials in the early stage of investigation say his death is being ruled a suicide, as reported Monday by the Chico Enterprise-Record and the Mendocino County DA’s Office.
Burrows, who was set to be represented by the Mendocino County public defender’s office, would have faced 15 years to life in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender if convicted.
The incident remains under investigation.
