A La Mesa resident accused of severely beating a 76- year-old man during a road-rage confrontation outside an East County drugstore, leaving him with injuries that required several rounds of surgery, pleaded not guilty Friday to elder abuse and assault charges.
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Thomas Clayton Sikes, 56, was arrested July 24 in connection with the April 30 attack.
Judge Evan Kirvin increased the defendant’s previously posted bail of $35,000 to $150,000, and he was taken back into custody.
Sikes faces nine years in prison if convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Carlos Campbell.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 285-pound defendant 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, then fled in a red SUV.
Surveillance cameras captured images of the incident.
“The fight was over an apparent road-rage incident,” said El Cajon police Sgt. Jason Taub.
Officers arrived to find the victim suffering from severe facial injuries that required hospitalization and extensive follow-up medical care, according to police. Sikes was arrested after police received an anonymous tip.
A readiness conference was scheduled Sept. 11 and a preliminary hearing set for Oct. 15.
— City News Service
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