A Bay Area man has been sentenced to nine months in jail for assaulting three law enforcement officers and damaging the Lake Yellowstone Hotel while intoxicated, officials said. He has also been banned from Yellowstone National Park for a year.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Benjamin Bagala, a 27-year-old Santa Rosa resident, pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers and one count of depredation against federal property.
The incident took place last September, when a reportedly intoxicated Bagala harassed guests and a security guard and began running through the Lake Yellowstone halls and destroying wares, the Department of Justice said in the release. An officer was called to the scene; Bagala proceeded to attack the officer before the officer used a stun gun on him, the release said.
Because of his inebriation — and injuries “from earlier activities” — Bagala was taken by ambulance to the nearby Livingston Hospital with an officer riding in the back to restrain him, the Department of Justice said. Bagala managed to escape from the restraints and attacked the officer, the release said. He also reportedly attacked a second officer driving the ambulance, who came to aid the officer in the back. Both were injured.
