The Colorado park ranger accused of stabbing himself in a hoax that sparked a large-scale manhunt at Staunton State Park last August took a plea deal Monday.
Callum Heskett pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, and false reporting of an emergency, a misdemeanor, according to a news release from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The plea deal dropped additional charges of attempting to influence a public servant, tampering with evidence, reckless endangerment, obstructing government operations and official misconduct from his case, according to Jefferson County court records.
Heskett was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay more than $16,000 in restitution, according to the district attorney’s office. That amount, which may be updated in the coming days, accounts for the costs incurred by all the agencies that responded to his fake distress call.
The former park ranger’s misdemeanor conviction is permanent, but he was granted a deferred sentence on his felony charge, court records show. If Heskett fulfills the terms of his probation, that charge will be removed from his record.
However, if Heskett violates the probation agreement, he will be sentenced to the Colorado Department of Corrections for a period of between two and six years.
The investigating officers’ main concern when considering a plea deal was ensuring that Heskett would not be allowed to work as law enforcement again, Deputy District Attorney Michael Rex said during the Monday morning hearing, according to the news release.
The stabbing hoax convictions will revoke Heskett’s POST certification and bar any future recertification, according to the district attorney’s office.
Heskett radioed for help inside Staunton State Park at about 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 19, claiming he had been attacked and stabbed by a stranger who fled the scene. The state park was shut down, all visitors were evacuated and a shelter-in-place order was issued for roughly 8,600 nearby residents as law enforcement agencies searched for the fictional suspect.
Two days later, authorities confirmed the attack was an “elaborate hoax.” The former Colorado Parks and Wildlife ranger had researched abdominal injuries, including how deep arteries are and the abdomen’s anatomy, in the days leading up to the fabricated attack, according to his arrest affidavit.
Heskett, who authorities said stabbed himself with his own pocket knife, was fired by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Aug. 22, according to the agency.
Heskett “was in a position of authority and trust” and “abused that authority” by making a false report that triggered a substantial law enforcement response, Deputy District Attorney Rex said during the hearing.
“Innocent third parties were inconvenienced and investigated as possible assailants, and likely numerous police reports went unresponded to as critical assets were deployed,” Rex said. He called the conduct “utterly incompatible with the responsibility, trust and duty charged of a law enforcement officer.”
Heskett was hired as a park ranger in March 2025 and assigned to Staunton State Park in May. He became a ranger after washing out of training at the Lafayette Police Department.
He resigned when faced with termination from the police department after receiving a multitude of poor evaluations during his sole month of training, including low scores in nearly 90% of the training evaluation categories, according to his personnel file.
Heskett failed to demonstrate “sufficient proficiency in critical areas needed to be a police officer,” Lafayette Police Chief Rick Bashor wrote in Heskett’s termination letter. The letter was rescinded when Heskett elected to resign in lieu of termination on July 3, 2024.
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