An Imperial Beach man pleaded guilty April 20 to felony battery with serious injury to 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, 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.
Andrew Fisak, 25, will be sentenced on June 6 in Chula Vista Superior Court. Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador said Fisak could get probation, but the maximum sentence is four years in prison.
It’s not a hate crime because there were no anti-gay slurs said in the brief incident with Fisak, who struck Valencia for no apparent reason. A worker testified Fisak started the fight and appeared to be intoxicated.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” Valencia told the San Diego LGBT Weekly on April 23. “I’m glad this litigation is no longer costing the taxpayers money.”
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.
