Win a trip for two to Belize!
A 53-year-old Colorado man has been found guilty on three felony charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, including assaulting, resisting and impeding officers with a deadly weapon.
Jeffrey Sabol of Kittredge entered the U.S. Capitol with a trauma kit, hunting knife, helmet and zip ties after traveling to Washington, D.C. with members of what he called a “neighborhood watch.” The group attended a rally by former President Donald Trump at the White House Ellipse before marching to the Capitol.
He was convicted in a stipulated bench trial.
Video shows Sabol assaulting multiple officers. He was part of a crowd that attempted to force its way through police barricades on the Capitol’s west entrance, where he was pushed down a set of stairs by riot police. Sabol and a second rioter grabbed the visor of a Metropolitan Police Officer.
Later, Sabol and two others assaulted a Capitol police officer who was defending the building, punching him and pulling him down the stairs into the crowd, where the man was beaten further.
Sabol was also found guilty of aiding and abetting, federal robbery and obstruction of official proceedings. He will be sentenced Jan. 19, 2024.
In the days after Jan. 6, Sabol tried to cover up his involvement in the riot, according to law enforcement. He told friends to delete messages he’d sent them, microwaved his laptop and dropped his phone into a body of water.
Sabol was arrested on Jan. 27 in upstate New York after officers pulled him over for driving erratically. He told them he was wanted for the FBI for his role in the insurrection. Authorities say he had made plans to fly to Zurich, Switzerland to evade arrest. But when that fell through, he tried to kill himself.
Because of his attempt to flee the country, a judge ordered Sabol held through the trial and sentencing.
According to the FBI, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in all 50 states for charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. At least 14 of them are from Colorado.
You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. We can help you keep up. The Lookout is a free, daily email newsletter with news and happenings from all over Colorado. Sign up here and we will see you in the morning!
It takes a good day’s drive to cover Colorado, but we’ll help you do it in a few minutes. Our newsletters bring you a closer look at the stories that affect you and the music that inspires you.
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. Listen now.