A 66-year-old man who comes across as the personification of Hardtack Jack in the 1966 Eileen Hill novel “Mystery of the Blue Pelican” is being held at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of a $295,000 bond.
Like Hardtack Jack, Michael Flinn lives – or at least until last week resided – in a rustic cabin in a remote California forest wilderness and exhibited a tendency to grow confrontational with those who intruded on his environs.
There have been reports about someone who was living in a rugged and difficult-to access area of the Angeles National Forest along the south approach to Mount Baldy going back for years.
On January 12, three men and two women were hiking along a seldom-used trail in the dense portion of the forest three to four miles past the trailhead above Mount Baldy Village when five of them encountered a man, latter determined to be Flinn. The man was unappreciative of the intrusion. Flinn was armed with a sledgehammer, which he swung with purpose at several trees while telling the five they needed to get off his property.
More than five months later, on May 16, a 32-year-old hiker and her dog were heading south on the trail through Dry Lake Canyon when she encountered Flinn, who, she later reported, was crouching down on the trail in front of her and was blocking her way forward. She made three attempts to go around him. When she did, the 6-foot tall, 170-pound Flinn came up off his haunches and threw branches toward her. She fell, and Flinn came up on her with a large branch which he lifted over his head.
Before he could actually hit the woman, however, two other hikers came down the trail. One approached Flinn, distracting him long enough for the woman to scramble past him and the other hiker assisted her and her dog to get away.
Authorities were called and Los Angeles County deputies were able to find Flinn later that afternoon. They attempted to arrest Flinn on suspicion of false imprisonment. As one of the deputies approached Flinn, who was carrying a knife but did not attempt to use it, kicked the deputy in the testicles. Shortly thereafter, he was taken into custody.
He appeared in West Covina Superior Court on Wednesday, May 21, at which point he was charged with five felony counts of making criminal threats and one felony count of false imprisonment. He pleaded not guilty.
It is believed Flinn has been living in the mountains since 2012. His last known address outside the wilderness was in Upland.
He is being held at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $295,000 bail.