Iraq war veteran gets probation, treatment

This is what can happen when justice is not blind. This is what happens when the courts understand that you cannot suddenly become someone willing to die for the sake of this nation into a regular "criminal" without cause. It is not a "get out of jail free card" but considers that there could be a chance to help a veteran recover from what happened to them. It's a chance.

Iraq war veteran gets probation, treatment
By Kathleen Kreller - kkreller@idahostatesman.com
Published: 04/05/10

If veteran George Nickel complies with strict requirements and supervision from Fourth District Judge Deborah Bail, he's spent his last night in jail.

Nickel, 38, will on Tuesday enter weeks of residential treatment for alcohol abuse and post traumatic stress disorder at the Veteran's Administration hospital in Boise.

Nickel has been in the Ada County Jail since a July incident when he pointed a gun at police after firing shots into neighbors' apartments.

Nickel has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Nickel was of 100 Idaho Army Reservists with the 321st Engineer Battalion who spent a year in Iraq hunting and disarming roadside bombs. He was the only man in a group of four to survive the explosion of a roadside bomb.

Police say Nickel was looking for his dog in his apartment building July 28 when he used an AR-15 rifle to try to shoot the locks off two different doors.



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PTSD on Trail:George Nickel Jr.

'The Long Walk Home'

By Jen Wahl Video BOISE - Military members from across the country and in Boise, are banding together to support one of their own.

George Nickel Jr., is facing felony charges after a shoot-out with Boise police in July.

Boise Police has told CBS 2 they're not aware if Nickel is suffering from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Either way, a website set up by Nickel's commander from Iraq, is asking for donations to pay for the Veteran's legal fees and any other expenses he may need covered.

Steve Colson, Gulf War Veteran, can relate to Sgt. Nickel. Today, Colson's refuge is his Harley and the open road.

"Once you retire or you get out, all the old injuries from jumping out of planes or off tanks all comes back to haunt you later on," Colson said.

But after years of service in the U.S. Army, Colson says he came back a different man and it's impossible for anyone who's never witnessed the death and destruction of war, to understand.
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Iraq wounded vet's clash with Boise police still a mystery

Reasons for Iraq vet's clash with Boise police still a mystery
By Patrick Orr - porr@idahostatesman.com
Published: 07/30/09
George Nickel Jr. couldn't explain to police why he used a rifle to shoot into a Vista neighborhood apartment complex and pointed a handgun at officers, according to court testimony Thursday.

Nickel is being held in the Ada County Jail on a $500,000 bond -- which is half as much as Ada County prosecutors said is necessary to keep the 38-year-old former Iraq vet incarcerated after an armed confrontation with Boise police late Tuesday night.

Boise police say Nickel told them he was looking for his dog in his apartment building when he used an AR-15 rifle to try to shoot the locks off two different doors. Minutes later, Boise police say, officers confronted him in a stairway and fired an estimated 12 rounds at Nickel, who was seen holding a handgun with a flashlight attached and didn't shoot back. No one was struck by any of the gunfire, police say.

A few new details emerged during Nickel's court arraignment Thursday, but they did not include a possible motive.

After he was arrested, Nickel could not explain to Boise police why he shot at the doors and confronted officers. All he said was that on a scale of one to 10, he was angry to the level of nine, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Whitney Faulkner said.
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