An Imperial Beach man was ordered Monday to stand trial for felony battery of a gay man who at the time was running for a South Bay school board seat when he was punched and kicked at a fast food restaurant.
Andrew Valencia, 30, testified about how he had to get root canal treatment for displaced teeth and stitches to repair a split lip after the Oct. 24, 2010, incident, at a Jack in the Box restaurant around 1:35 a.m. in Imperial Beach.
It’s not a hate crime because there were no anti-gay slurs said in the brief incident from defendant Andrew Fisak, 25, who is accused of attacking Valencia for no apparent reason. A worker testified Fisak started the fight and appeared to be intoxicated.
Valencia, a Republican, ran against incumbent Arlie Ricasa in the non-partisan race of the Sweetwater Union High School Board in the Nov. 2 election. Ricasa 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 the Jack in the Box restaurant on Palm Avenue. Fisak works for the city of Coronado.
Valencia testified in the preliminary hearing before Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis and was not asked to identify Fisak in court as he did not get a good look at his assailant. Afterwards, Valencia declined comment, saying the prosecutor asked him not to say anything to the media.
Fisak’s attorney, Charles Luckman, asked Lewis to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, saying the injury was not serious and there was no permanent damage. Luckman said the video camera showed Fisak arriving at the Jack in the Box with his cousin in a good mood.
Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador said Valencia received a “permanent injury,” citing the root canal work, and a scar near his lip.
“This was an unprovoked physical attack,” said Amador.
Lewis denied the motion to reduce it to a misdemeanor, saying there was adequate proof that a serious injury was 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. If he is convicted of battery with serious injury, he faces four years in prison.
