A 69-year-old San Simeon man was convicted of assaulting a State Parks maintenance worker after he was asked to stop taking apart a toilet at a Big Sur state park, prosecutors said.
David Carl Goad was found guilty Wednesday of felony assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury and misdemeanor battery after a two-day jury trial.
Goad had begun disassembling a toilet on May 17 in a restroom at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to fix an issue with it when a maintenance employee asked him to stop and leave so park staff could handle the problem, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Goad became hostile and attacked the worker from behind as the employee turned to close and lock the restroom door. The worker testified that Goad put his hands around his neck and applied pressure.
The worker broke free after a brief struggle and reported this to State Parks rangers, who saw red marks on his neck, prosecutors said.
Goad will be sentenced on Oct. 2 and faces up to three years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to prosecutors.