Tearful father testifies about Sutter County night of terror

Testifying Friday in a preliminary hearing, a father tearfully recalled how his two sons allegedly tried to rob him at gunpoint.

Visiting Judge Ann Rutherford ruled there was enough evidence to try Cory Dean Allred, 24, and David Stanley Allred, 26, in Sutter County Superior Court on robbery and burglary charges after hearing testimony from their father, David Allred.

The sons allegedly tried to steal a semiautomatic handgun from David Allred the night of Aug. 9 at his home in the 6000 block of Carlson Road in Sutter County, then fled to Yuba County and holed up in their mother's home. They were flushed out with tear gas after a lengthy standoff.

David Allred testified he was sitting in his livingroom at 9 p.m. when an angry Cory Allred entered through a door from the garage, pointed a .22 caliber rifle at him and demanded a .38 caliber handgun kept in a bedroom safe.

The rifle was one he kept in the garage for shooting gophers in the back yard, David Allred said.

Cory Allred said he wanted the handgun so he could commit suicide, the father said.

“Cory got more agitated every time I said no,” he said.

At first he thought his son would not kill him, but then Cory stuck the rifle barrel in his face and said “he would kill me, that my (expletive) wife had to die and that me and my business partner were conspiring against him,” David Allred said.

A few weeks earlier, Cory Allred discussed “committing suicide by cop.” He agreed to seek mental health treatment but then left home, the senior Allred said.

David Allred said he removed the handgun from the safe but extracted the loaded magazine and stuck the gun in his waistband. Cory demanded that he put the magazine back and in an click off the safety, he said

“I knew that if I handed him that gun loaded, his intentions were to kill me,” he said.

Cory took the magazine and handed the rifle to his older brother. The father said he hoped that his older son “wouldn't back up Cory.” But David Allred also pointed the rifle in his direction, he said.

The senior Allred said he promised to turn over the gun outdoors, but when they reached the front door, he threw the gun and magazine in opposite directions in the dark front yard. Cory became even more enraged, but his older brother handed over the rifle, butt first.

The brothers then left - without the handgun - and went to their mother's home in Linda.

After a five-hour standoff, the brothers surrendered when a SWAT team fired tear gas canisters through the windows. No guns were found in the house.

No charges have been filed in Yuba County.

The brothers are being held in Sutter County Jail on $50,000 bail each and will be arraigned Oct. 10.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young can be reached at 749-4710. You may e-mail him at ryoung@appeal-democrat.com.