El Dorado County man sentenced for attack on Lassen Park Ranger

Submitted by paula on Tue, 01/24/2017 - 10:26pm

Nicholas Martin Coberley, 45, of Pollock Pines, will be spending the next 27 months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon on a park ranger.

Coberley attacked a Lassen Volcanic National Park ranger who had been called out to investigate reports of a man walking in the middle of the road at 9:00 p.m. on June 20, 2016, yelling loudly. When the ranger approached, Coberley jumped into the back of the ranger’s truck, grabbed a firefighting tool, and began hitting the truck’s passenger compartment with the tool, causing more than $2,000 in damage to the roof and windshield. Moments later, Coberley smashed out the rear window with an axe, climbed into the passenger compartment, and put the ranger in a chokehold. At that point, Coberley swung an axe at the ranger’s head from behind while the truck was in motion. The ranger was able to speak calmly with Coberley and defused the situation. Coberley returned to his residence near the park’s boundary and was arrested later without incident.

Hw was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to the prison term followed by three years of supervised release for assault on a federal employee with a deadly weapon, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

This case was the product of an investigation by the National Parks Service and the Plumas County District Attorney's Office with assistance from the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Delgado prosecuted the case.

“The National Park Service would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Plumas County District Attorney’s Office for their support in the successful prosecution of Mr. Coberly," Lassen Volcanic National Park Chief Ranger John Fish said. "Visitor and employee safety is of paramount importance to the National Park Service. We would further like to thank the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office and the CHP in helping resolve the situation with no injuries of significance to park visitors or our employee.”