Man admits to attacking Marysville mayor, councilman. What could his sentence be?

A man who last month attacked Marysville’s mayor and a city councilman as they waited at a crosswalk pleaded no contest Friday to two misdemeanor charges in the assault.

Derek Don Hopkins pleaded no contest to two counts of battery after he punched Mayor Chris Branscum in the back Aug. 22 while also striking Councilman Dom Belza. The pair were arriving to a meeting with U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa at the Hotel Marysville, a historic structure that sustained extensive damage in a June fire.

Belza, who was also with plainclothed Marysville Police Chief Chris Sachs during the attack on 5th and D streets in downtown, chased and tackled Hopkins, according to the Appeal-Democrat.

“Derek Hopkins is going to held responsible for the senseless assault he committed on Mayor Branscum because Dom Belza chose to be an upstander rather than a bystander,” said Yuba County District Attorney Clint Curry in a statement. “He deserves all of our thanks.”

Hopkins faces up to one year in jail at his sentencing hearing Sept. 30 in Yuba Superior Court, according to a Yuba County news release.