The man accused of ambushing a Carlsbad police officer by allegedly beating him in the head with a skateboard has a record of run-ins with police, according to court documents obtained by NBC 7.
Last Friday, the police officer pulled into a parking lot on Carlsbad Village Drive near the I-5 overpass after his cruiser was struck with a rock. As he surveyed the damage, a man came up behind him and whacked the officer on the head with a skateboard. The suspect took off running as the officer fired three shots but missed.
Other officers responding to the incident arrested Kyle McCord, 32, a few blocks away. He was charged with attempted murder of a police officer and committing a felony while out on bail. He is being held at the George Bailey Detention Center without bail.
The officer, who was not identified, has been released from the hospital but has a long road to recovery, the department said in an Facebook post on Tuesday.
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NBC 7 checked court documents and discovered McCord was arrested in December 2023 for resisting arrest and assault on an officer identified only as “Officer Campbell.” The documents do not say what police department Officer Campbell works for.
The charging document says in part: “On or about December 14, 2023, Kyle Andrew McCord did unlawfully attempt by means of threats and violence to deter and prevent another who was then and there an executive officer from performing a duty imposed upon such officer by law, and did knowingly resist by the use of force and violence said executive officer in the performance of his/her duty in violation of penal code section 69.”
On February 29, just one month before the Carlsbad incident, McCord entered a guilty plea to the charges and was released for time served in jail.
Criminal defense attorney Marc Carlos is not handling McCord’s case, but told NBC 7 if he were, he would probably make sure his client was screened for mental challenges, which might help the defense.
Carlos said not to make too many assumptions about McCord's previous resisting arrest or assault charges because they are frequently filed for a wide range of incidents.
“It doesn’t take much to have assault on a police officer filed against you," Carlos said. "Really, any physical contact with a police officer -- the way you talk to him, the way you push against him -- that could be an assault. So anytime there’s sort of a scuffle you see 'resisting arrest,' 'assault on police officer'-type charges, so it’s not that significant."
“The fact that the previous conviction was a time-served type sentence, would lead me to believe it wasn’t that significant,” he continued.
Still, Carlos believes in light of the previous conviction and the fact that the new charge allegedly happened just a month after the guilty plea, McCord could be looking at a “substantial” prison sentence, if he’s convicted.
McCord is scheduled to be arraigned in Vista court April 4.
Carlsbad Police Chief Mickey Williams said in the Facebook post Tuesday the skateboard incident was the third attack on a police officer in 7 months and called for an end.
"As a civilized community, we cannot tolerate violent assaults on our police officers as they work to protect and serve our community," the statement read. "The Carlsbad Police Department’s commitment to serving and protecting our community will not waver. However, as a community we must make sure that our police officers are not attacked just because they are police officers."
