A former candidate for the Sweetwater Union High School District board testified Monday he was punched several times by a man and had to go to a hospital for treatment. He also said his treatment required a root canal by a dentist.
Andrew Valencia, 30, testified in the preliminary hearing of Andrew Fisak, 25, who was ordered Monday to stand trial on a felony charge of battery with serious bodily injury in the Oct. 24, 2010, incident.
Valencia received a split lip and needed several stitches to close the wound. He also had two teeth displaced and he had to get a root canal to repair the damage, he said.
Valencia, a Republican, ran against incumbent Arlie Ricasa in the non-partisan race in the Nov. 2 election, and she defeated him with 58 percent of the vote to Valencia’s 41 percent.
Fisak was arrested three days after the incident by sheriff’s deputies after video footage was obtained from a Jack in the Box restaurant on Palm Avenue. Fisak works for the city of Coronado.
The motive for the fight remains unknown, but Javier Montellano, a restaurant employee, said Fisak appeared to be intoxicated and started the fight.
“He (Fisak) was pushing him. He punched Mr. Valencia on the lip,” said Montellano. “After that, Mr. Valencia started bleeding.”
Valencia was not asked to identify Fisak in court. He was only asked about his injuries and afterward declined comment, saying the prosecutor asked him not to say anything to the media.
Fisak’s attorney, Charles Luckman, asked Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, saying the injury was not serious.
Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador said Valencia received a “permanent injury,” citing the root canal work, and a scar near the lip.
“This was an unprovoked attack,” Amador said.
Lewis denied the motion to reduce it to a misdemeanor, saying there was adequate proof that a serious injury incurred. She ordered Fisak to next appear in court on March 8 to set a trial date.
Fisak has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $35,000 bond.
