A 37-year-old man previously convicted of an unprovoked attack on a cellmate in Garden Grove’s jail pleaded guilty this week to attacking a driver in Anaheim with a metal pole and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Nikolas Robert Poole attacked a 69-year-old man in a car, who was stopped at a traffic light near Brookhurst Street and Lincoln Avenue, at about 11:15 a.m. on March 20, 2025.
Poole slammed a metal pole over the victim several times, Sgt. Matt Sutter has said, adding the two did not know each other and the attack appeared to be unprovoked.
While in custody in Anaheim’s jail, Poole damaged property in his cell, Sutter said.
Poole pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon, arson, possession of a controlled substance in jail and vandalism, all felonies. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
Poole had 595 days credit behind bars since his arrest.
Poole has a lengthy criminal history.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in August 2022 after pleading guilty to assault and battery, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
Poole had been arrested on suspicion of trespassing in the backyard of a home in the 9800 block of Aldgate Avenue in 2018, Garden Grove police have said.
Poole was put in the same cell as a man arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public after he got into a fight with family members at a shopping center, police said.
The man apparently was asleep when Poole attacked him for no apparent reason, police said.
Officers in the jail heard the attack and then saw Poole “stomping” on the man, the police said.
The cellmate suffered skull fractures and a traumatic brain injury, police said.
Poole also pleaded guilty, in October 2024, to attacking a deputy while in the Orange County Jail with a Taser and escaping custody in August 2022, according to court records.
Poole also pleaded guilty to burglary in November 2010.