By Annette Wong-Toi
SACRAMENTO, CA – April Fool’s usually elicits an image of fun pranks, but one man had a less-than-fun encounter with his daughter’s boyfriend last year.
April 1, 2020, officers responded to a call concerning a man who had been hit by a car. Earlier, defendant Mark Davis drove to the residence of his girlfriend, where an argument broke out between him and her parents.
Officer John Hosmer testified at the Sacramento County Superior Court preliminary hearing this week that he found the victim lying down in the driveway with what appeared to him as a compound fracture to his ankle, noting, “The bone was actually piercing through the skin.”
After attempting to speak with the victim, the officer was redirected to speak with his wife. She told the officer that her daughter had been dating the accused for a year, and was pregnant with his child.
However, the couple suspected that Davis had physically abused their daughter in the past, which was why they “didn’t get along with him.”
The victim’s wife shared that Davis had exited his vehicle and approached the two with a threatening demeanor. Anticipating a fight, the victim picked up a metal bar.
Yuri Hill, the victim’s defense attorney, clarified with the officer that their daughter had been trying to keep them apart during their argument.
The accused told her to get in the car, where she reportedly sat on the left rear side. After starting to pull away, Davis yelled that he was going to “get a gun and shoot up the house.”
The victim then used the metal bar to break the back window of the car and walked across the street to a neighbor’s driveway, according to a witness statement.
Davis then reportedly, according to what the officer was told, made a U-turn and allegedly hit the victim where he stood in the driveway, leaving him with a broken left fibula, as well as the aforementioned compound fracture to his ankle.
The witness shared that it looked as if the passengers of the car were conversing, and that the female passenger appeared to want to stop the driver from running the victim over again. The accused then backed the vehicle out of the driveway and attempted to drive off, but was stopped and arrested by officers arriving at the scene.
The victim’s wife was seen running after the car, shouting, “He just ran over my dude.” said the officer witness.
During his cross-examination, defense counsel Hill confirmed with the officer that, according to the mother’s account, her daughter was sitting in the backseat. He restated that the victim had “busted in” the back window, even though his pregnant daughter was seated nearby.
However, another officer stated that she had been in the front seat when Davis was detained. This discrepancy proved to be a point of interest for Hill, who also asked the last witness about her whereabouts in the car.
The defendant was seen looking dejected, hanging his head, and rubbing his face as the witnesses were being questioned in court.
Judge Trena H. Burger-Plavan shared that she had found sufficient cause to set a trial in the matter.
The judge set his arraignment for Aug. 5 at 1:30 p.m., and a trial date will be set.
