The Record Searchlight
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — A Cottonwood man was ordered Thursday to stand trial on attempted murder and other charges for allegedly trying to kill two paramedics and an emergency medical technician by ramming his pickup into their occupied ambulance outside Mercy Medical Center in February.
Joel Michael Haller, who had a preliminary hearing Thursday in Shasta County Superior Court, is due to return to court May 3 for the possible setting of his trial date.
Haller, who has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial, allegedly expressed disappointment when told no one was killed following the crash, saying “that’s too bad” and “next time I’ll drive through the front doors,” according to a Redding police report. That report also said Haller smiled and “nodded his head up and down” when asked by a police officer if he would do it again when he got out of jail.
Haller’s father told police after the crash that his son, who went to the hospital to seek treatment for a headache, has a history of mental illness and has been violent in the past, according to the police report.
Haller, who remains in Shasta County jail in lieu of $1 million bail, faces a potential life sentenced if tried and convicted of the charges against him, a prosecutor said.
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