Man Pleads No Contest To LSD-Fueled Assault Of Police Officer
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A man pleaded no contest Monday to charges related to an LSD-fueled attack on a Redwood City police officer in 2015, San Mateo County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Redwood City resident Gregory Wegman, 26, entered the plea for charges of assaulting the officer with force likely to cause great bodily injury and felony vandalism, according to the district attorney's office.
Wegman was in the 700 block of Castle Hill Road at 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2015, when he started acting bizarrely, prosecutors said.
He smashed the front gate and glass window of the front door of a home, damaged another home and started yelling in the street. One person came out of his home and Wegman charged at him and tackled him, prosecutors said.
The person yelled for his wife to call police. Another person came out of his home and Wegman pushed him in the chest and started talking about his father and the devil, according to the district attorney's office.
A Redwood City police officer arrived and Wegman attacked him. During a struggle, Wegman reached around the officer and put his thumb in the officer's eye, prosecutors said.
The officer suffered severe pain, temporary blindness and some broken blood vessels, according to prosecutors.
Neighbors intervened and subdued Wegman, who was taken to a hospital where it was determined that he had taken two doses of LSD and was hallucinating, prosecutors said.
Wegman's attorney Geoff Carr said his client is college-educated and has no prior criminal history and no offenses since.
Carr said Wegman had a bad LSD trip, but otherwise "he's the nicest guy."
Wegman felt bad about what he did and made restitution. He worked to pay some restitution and borrowed money from family to pay the rest, which he intends to pay back, according to Carr.
Wegman faces up to one year in county jail. He will return to court on Sept. 13. to be sentenced and is currently free on $100,000 bail.
TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
