Attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and drunken driving charges were filed Wednesday against a man accused of intentionally trying to run down a crowd people on a sidewalk outside an Encinitas bar with a U-Haul rental van, injuring three pedestrians in the process.
Christian Dwight Davis, 28, allegedly drove into a group gathered outside The Shelter bar around 1:15 a.m. Sunday and was arrested at the scene.
Witnesses told deputies that Davis, a North Carolina native who lives in Fallbrook, had been at the bar and was asked to leave because he was intoxicated.
At the defendant’s arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Coulter alleged that Davis told security guards, “You’re going to regret doing this. I’m going to come back and I’m going to kill you.”
After leaving the bar, Davis got into a van and drove it on the sidewalk and intentionally tried to hit people standing outside the bar, she alleged.
The van struck three men, two of whom remain hospitalized with serious injuries, Coulter said. The two seriously injured men, ages 24 and 25, were bystanders, while another man who sustained minor injuries was one of the two security guards Davis allegedly threatened, according to the prosecutor.
Coulter said one of the men suffered a severe leg injury and underwent his third surgery on Wednesday. The other man has two collapsed lungs, fractured ribs and a broken arm, she said.
After striking the victims, the van then slammed into a roadside tree and the front of the bar, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Agustin Rosas.
Two people also received minor injuries when they detained Davis at the scene before deputies arrived, Rosas said.
Davis, who pleaded not guilty, faces life imprisonment if convicted, according to Coulter.
The defendant is being held on $1 million bail, and must wear a SCRAM alcohol-monitoring device should he post bail. He’s due back in court March 12 for a readiness conference.
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