Punk singer gets treatment for ‘24 YNP rampage

Anthony Mehlhaff, the Los Angeles punk singer who went on a one-man crime spree through Yosemite National Park in August 2024, is going to a two-year residential treatment program in San Francisco.

He has already spent a year and eight months in the Mariposa County Jail.

As part of a plea deal, Mehlhaff pleaded guilty on May 11 to 10 felony and misdemeanor charges including carjacking, robbery, assault, evading a police officer, vandalism, auto theft, battery and brandishing a weapon.

Mariposa County Superior Court Judge Michael Fagalde said Mehlhaff’s conduct “was appalling and put people’s life in danger.”

Judge Fagalde then sentenced Mehlhaff to eight years and four months in prison, but then suspended the sentence.

Instead of sending Mehlhaff to prison, Fagalde followed a probation recommendation that Mehlhaff be allowed to attend Delancey Street, a lauded residential treatment program for those “who have hit rock bottom.”

If Mehlhaff, who is 42, doesn’t successfully complete the program, he is looking at serving the eight years in prison.

Mariposa County District Attorney Walter Wall had asked that the eight year sentence be imposed and for Mehlhaff to go to prison. He did not support probation or Delancey.

“Mr. Mehlhaff engaged in a one-day crime spree in the community. The nature of the crimes were serious and violent,” Wall said.

Mehlhaff’s public defender, Robert Chase, dismissed the episode as “a period of aberrant behavior brought on by a mental health issue.”

Walking out of the Mariposa County Courthouse after his sentencing, Mehlhaff gave out an elated roar, and then began naming jail deputies, bailiffs, court staff and even this reporter.

“Miss you Amy, miss you Violette, miss you Tommy, miss you Evan, miss you Ross, miss you Mike,” he said as he was loaded into the jail transport van.

The clean-shaven and sober Mehlhaff leaves Mariposa County a very different man than the wide-eyed, drug crazed and scraggly haired man who showed up more than a year and a half ago.

A magic mushroom tour

On Aug. 21, 2024, Mehlhaff went on a bizarre, magic mushroom and THC fueled tirade that began at the Tangled Hearts Cafe in Buck Meadows in Mariposa County. There he touched the abdomen of a pregnant waitress and told her, “The spirits have led me to you and your baby belongs to me.”

He stole some THC beverages from the store and sped off into Yosemite National Park.

Mehlhaff entered the former White Chief Lodge where he allegedly brandished a kitchen knife, frightening staff, before placing the knife and his clothes in a microwave.

Security video next door at the Tenaya Lodge Clubhouse showed Mehlhaff, wearing only his underwear at this point, ransacking the gift shop and pouring a water cooler on himself.

He then took a clerk’s car keys and led police on a high-speed chase along Highway 41 into Madera County.

Dashcam video from a Tesla shows a frightening road rage encounter in Oakhurst with Mehlhaff ramming the Tesla, apparently attempting to run it off the road.

A police chase over Deadwood reached speeds of 80 miles an hour. Video from the Tesla shows Mehlhaff nearly struck on coming traffic.

Moments later, Mehlhaff crashed the stolen car through a barb wire fence and slammed into a tree. He was arrested sprawled out on the roof of the car.

Singer in the band

Mehlhaff is the creator and lead singer for the Los Angeles punk metal band Cancer Christ, which leaned heavily on theatrics and profane lyrics.

His stage persona could best be described as maniacal.

But it was strictly for show, he said.

He was also a family man with a 20-year marriage and a 13-year-old daughter he adored.

His family has a history of profound mental illness.

When he was five-years-old he watched his mother jump off a bridge into the Russian River in a suicide attempt.

Because of that family history, Mehlhaff always abstained from drugs and alcohol. He was sober for four decades, a fact documented by friends and mental health records.

In the world of punk and metal, that made him unique.

But just as the band started to see success, Mehlhaff’s life started to fall apart. When he turned 40, he began using hallucinogenic mushrooms and high potency THC products in an effort to create intimacy in his marriage, he said.

It created only chaos.

The band disintegrated as Mehlhaff’s behavior became more erratic. His marriage, already on life support, fell apart too.

On July 31, 2024, he left his home in Los Angeles to see a friend in Portland.

He made it as far as Bakersfield.

He was live streaming while driving and said he was going to drive off a cliff. A friend called police.

Bakersfield police arrested Mehlhaff and put him on a 72-hour psychiatric hold at the Bakersfield Behavioral Healthcare Hospital.

“He has never done this before, so this is different,” a former band member told nurses. Mehlhaff had also left “venomous voice messages.” His band mate said he was afraid for his life.

A few days later, Mehlhaff barricaded himself in a room of the hospital and tore the place apart, breaking windows and ripping down ceiling tiles. Mehlhaff punched an orderly in the face.

Bakersfield police arrested Mehlhaff for vandalism, battery and criminal threats. But the hospital declined to press charges.

Mehlhaff was released from the Kern County Jail a few days later without further treatment.

Mehlhaff would later tell a psychiatrist he spent the next two weeks living out of his car, getting little sleep and consuming psychedelic mushrooms and eating high-potency THC edibles.

He believes he took mushrooms the morning he found himself in Buck Meadows in Mariposa County.

During his time in the Mariposa County Jail, Mehlhaff was interviewed by two forensic psychiatrists and underwent a battery of psychological testing.

The two psychiatrists differed on minor diagnostic points, but agreed that during Mehlhaff’s rampage he was experiencing a manic episode brought on by psilocybin mushrooms and THC products.

The psychiatrists agreed the Mehlhaff would be a good candidate for treatment, but he was denied a mental health diversion.

At the old historic courthouse, Mehlhaff quickly earned a reputation as a difficult client. He went through six separate public defenders which kept delaying his case. Several of those attorneys removed themselves from his case before Mehlhaff had a chance to fire them.

Mehlhaff repeatedly refused to wave his right to a speedy trial, believing that is the way defendants get caught up in the system. He insisted that his case had been “over charged.”

Ultimately, his persistence and recalcitrance may have paid off. Mehlhaff could’ve been facing 15 years in prison.

In several jail house interviews with the Mariposa Gazette, Mehlhaff revealed himself to be articulate and thoughtful, but also grandiose and stubborn.

At times he was dismissive of his crimes, saying they were more bizarre than truly dangerous.

His ex-wife told the Gazette he has always been a good father to their daughter. Growing up, he took a picture of her every single day.

Mehlhaff has consistently told therapists, psychiatrist and this newspaper that he desperately misses his daughter and regrets the impact his actions have had on her life.

Mehlhaff will get a second chance at Delancey Street, an intensive rehabilitation program where residents work full-time jobs as they attend intensive treatment.

He said he hopes to return to a music career one day. Perhaps even reforming his old band Cancer Christ. The second coming of Anthony Mehlhaff, perhaps.

Leaving the courthouse, Mehlhaff said he may one day come back to Mariposa.

In a follow-up text message, the punk metal anarchist quoted a soft rock legend.

“Karen Carpenter said it best,” he wrote. “‘We’ve only just begun.’”