Police arrested a La Mesa man following a seemingly unprovoked attack on an elderly man in El Cajon three months ago that left the victim with a serious eye injury and forced him to undergo two surgeries.
Thomas Clayton Sikes, 56, of La Mesa, was arrested and remained in jail Friday on suspicion of severely beating the victim, 76, during a road-rage confrontation outside a Fletcher Parkway drugstore. The arrest was made following an anonymous tip, El Cajon Sgt. Jason Taub said.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 285-pound suspect allegedly attacked the older man about 10 a.m. April 30 during a dispute in a parking lot in the 500 block of Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon. He then fled in a red SUV.
Surveillance cameras captured images of the incident, in which the apparently calm assailant, a large man, walks across a nearly empty parking lot, steps up to the victim’s driver’s side door, converses with him briefly, then punches him.
On the upper far right of the screen, the suspect’s vehicle can be seen.
The victim acknowledged to local media that he had been on a cell phone when he and the assailant pulled into the parking lot, but said there was no other reason for the attack. By June, authorities sought the public’s help in finding the suspect, releasing the surveillance video in order to get more leads. Initially, for instance, investigators had sought a younger suspect.
Sikes was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of assault and battery causing great bodily injury. He was being held on $35,000 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Monday afternoon.
– City News Service contributed to this report.
