Former San Diego paramedic accused of breaking into home pleads guilty to gun charges

A former paramedic who was accused of burglarizing a home pleaded guilty to two other charges on Monday, the District Attorney’s Office said.

The day before his trial was set to begin, former Falck paramedic Nicholas Conniry pleaded guilty to two felony charges: possession of an assault weapon and attempted manufacture of an assault weapon, which could earn him up to 44 months in prison, according to San Diego District Attorney's office spokesperson Tanya Sierra.

Conniry was arrested in July 2023 on burglary charges after he allegedly attempted to break into the home of a Rancho Bernardo woman, whose husband Conniry took to the hospital the night before.

When San Diego Police officers went to the firehouse where Conniry regularly worked, they found additional evidence that he was involved in other criminal activity relating to assault weapons.

The remaining charges including residential burglary, possession of personal information with intent to defraud, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a person possessing controlled substances will be addressed at a Wednesday hearing, Sierra confirmed.

At Wednesday's hearing, Conniry could either enter a separate plea or his counsel could set a different trial date on the remaining charges.

Conniry appeared in August for a preliminary hearing, during which Rancho Bernardo resident Willa Taylor testified that on the morning of July 4, she was getting ready to visit her husband who had been hospitalized following a seizure, when she heard a noise coming from the back of their home.

Taylor explained she saw a man remove a screen in an attempt to open a locked window, and as she continued watching, the man moved to a nearby sliding glass door, which was also locked.

Taylor testified she didn’t look at the faces of the half-dozen or so firefighters and paramedics who swarmed into the bedroom she shared with her husband the night he fell ill, but she did recognize Nicholas Conniry as the man who tried to break into their home the next morning, who at the time was still wearing his Falck Paramedic uniform with his name clearly embroidered on the chest of his shirt.

Taylor decided to confront him. “I asked him what he was doing," she testified. “He said, 'Don’t you remember me? I was here last night.'”

Taylor said she didn’t believe Conniry when he told her he had returned to the home to gather some information for his report about the previous night’s medical call at her home. She refused to let him in. A neighbor confronted Conniry and Taylor called the police.

Conniry was arrested for burglary, but as officers searched the firehouse where he worked, they found evidence that Conniry may have been involved in other criminal activity. Medical records of dozens of patients were found in his personal locker. On the back of one of those records, someone had written Taylor’s address.

Detectives searched Conniry’s white pick-up and said they found a black backpack with two vials of fentanyl and loaded handguns. Searches of two of Conniry’s homes in Temecula and San Diego uncovered several other guns, including assault rifles, ammunition, and gun parts and tools used in the assembly of ghost guns, testimony showed.

In July, NBC 7 received this statement from Falck, the company that operates San Diego’s ambulance and paramedic services:

“On Friday, July 7, Falck learned that an employee had been charged with breaking into a residence in San Diego while off-duty, among other charges. That individual, Nick Conniry, is no longer employed by Falck. He had been a paramedic with Falck since October 2021. We were shocked and dismayed to hear this news, as we would any breach of the trust both our patients and the community place in us. We’re cooperating fully with law enforcement and are in close communication with our partners at the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.”

A company spokesman added that the fentanyl found in Conniry’s possession did not come from Falck.

Conniry remains held without bail in the San Diego County Jail.