A North Hollywood man was held to answer for charges he ran over another man after disputing his share of the bill outside a Newhall restaurant.
An amended complaint filed Wednesday accuses Aric Kalisi, 37, of felony assault with deadly weapon, and leaving the scene of an injury accident, which is considered a “wobbler” under state law, meaning it could be a misdemeanor or a felony. Kalisi’s charge was a felony.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office presented the evidence against Kalisi — testimony from a witness to the alleged attack and a Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station detective who investigated it — at his preliminary hearing. There was also a two-minute video of the alleged confrontation in the parking lot.
No affirmative defense was offered and Judge Robert Sanchez DuFour held Kalisi to answer to both charges, as well as several special allegations.
Those allegations, which include the use of a weapon and that the victim was significantly injured, could add up to three years on to any prison sentence if Kalisi is convicted.
He stands accused of running over his friend’s fiancé in the restaurant’s parking lot, leaving him with a fractured leg, after a violent outburst over his share of the bill, following a dinner at Las Originales on Newhall Avenue.
The victim knew the suspect through the victim’s fiancée, and a dispute erupted between them over the bill for the dinner they had, according to the detective’s report.
Court records obtained by The Signal state Kalisi also is suspected of having thrown a margarita glass at the victim inside the restaurant, before leaving and having another confrontation with the victim outside.
The detective later reported seeing footage from a business owner’s nearby security camera, which was played at the hearing, according to the minute order.
“As the arrestee backed out of the parking stall with his vehicle facing west (toward the exit), the victim stood in place and raised his right hand to show the arrestee he was holding what appeared to be a cell phone,” according to a sworn statement in the SCV Sheriff’s Station investigation. “The arrestee then put the vehicle in ‘drive’ and drove forward towards the victim and hit him with the vehicle. I observed the arrestees’ vehicle continue driving after he struck the victim. I also observed the victim under the arrestees’ car and attempting to crawl out from under the vehicle,” according to the detective’s report.
Kalisi remains free on $30,000 bail, according to LASD custody records available online. He’s due back in court at the San Fernando Courthouse next week, in order to enter his plea to both charges.
