Man Arrested After Alleged Threats Against Congressman : Courts: Mark Raymond Engberg faces trial after he reportedly said he would burn down the field office of state Rep. Steve Horn.

A man who allegedly threatened to assault freshman Rep. Steve Horn (R-Long Beach) and burn down Horn’s Lakewood field office is in custody and faces trial later this month.

Mark Raymond Engberg, 31, repeatedly went to Horn’s Lakewood field office earlier this year to request that Horn help clear his criminal record, according to federal court documents.

Engberg claimed that his life had been destroyed by his legal troubles, including an assault conviction, and thought that Horn was the only person able to help him, the records show.

Engberg allegedly screamed at Horn’s staff members during several visits, refused to leave when asked, and on one occasion nearly struck a worker. Another time, Engberg allegedly left a message on the office answering machine, saying: “You guys (expletive) me over. I want to burn your (expletive) place down. You guys better not go to work on Monday because I’m going to burn it down.”

Horn was not at the Lakewood office when the alleged threats were made, said David R. Fields, a federal prosecutor handling the case. But Horn told FBI agents that he viewed Engberg’s threats as an attempt at intimidation, Fields said.

Horn and five staff members from the Lakewood office have been subpoenaed to testify at the trial, scheduled to begin Oct. 26. Horn would not comment other than to say that Engberg had been indicted. Engberg was being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

“Based upon his actions at the congressman’s office, I think he is dangerous,” Fields said. “He is still very emotional about these matters and how he feels he has been wronged by the system.”

Engberg’s court-appointed attorney, Dwight B. Moore, would not comment on details of the case. He noted that Engberg pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court on Aug. 2 to a felony charge of threatening to assault Horn.

“We deny the indictment,” Moore said. “The government will be required to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt (and) we don’t think they can do it.”

Engberg has had other scrapes with the law in recent years. In 1989, he was convicted on two misdemeanor firearms charges for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, according to court records. The next year, he was convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon in a domestic dispute, according to records and a family member. He was sentenced to 241 days on the assault conviction.

Engberg grew up in Lakewood and attended Artesia High School but did not graduate, according to a family member, who asked not to be named. He worked in construction, the family member said. Engberg left home several years ago and had been living on his own and with friends in the Southeast area recently.

Engberg was found competent to stand trial in the Horn case but a court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Coburn, described him in an evaluation as paranoid and confused, with “a tenuous hold on reality.”