A 41-year-old man made his first court appearance Tuesday on charges of attacking a roommate in San Clemente, leaving her comatose.
Andrew Charles Nilsen was charged Thursday with attempted murder and being a prohibited person owning ammunition, both felonies, with a sentencing enhancement for leaving the victim comatose due to a brain injury, according to the criminal complaint.
Nilsen, who was arrested Friday, made his first appearance in court in the jail courtroom of Santa Ana, but his arraignment was rescheduled for Dec. 29 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
Witnesses told Orange County sheriff’s deputies the suspect was seen dragging the woman, who is in her mid-40s, out of a house in the 600 block of Via Barracuda on Dec. 3, according to Orange County sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Woodroof. Deputies were dispatched about 4:55 a.m. but when they arrived the two were gone and it appears the suspect took the victim to a hospital, Woodroof said.
Nilsen pleaded guilty in October 2021 to corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and admitted a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to the victim.