Tanner Hendee Must Stand Trial on Assault Charge, Judge Rules

A 19-year-old man accused of delivering a knock-out punch to a transient, abandoning him in a vacant house in Ramona, must stand trial on a charge of assault likely to produce great bodily injury, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Tanner Hendee faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, Deputy District Attorney Shanish Aloor said.

At the end of a preliminary hearing at the El Cajon Courthouse, Judge Allan Preckel ruled that enough evidence had been presented for Hendee to stand trial on the assault charge, but not for robbery and dissuading a witness from testifying. Arraignment was set for June 6.

Someone called 911, and paramedics found the man on his back in a house in or near the 100 block of 11th Street just before 5:30 p.m. on May 7, according to San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Vengler.

The victim was flown to a trauma center with head and possible spine injuries, Vengler said.

According to court testimony, the two had clashed before. Aloor said Hendee believed the other man to be a sex offender.

--City News Service