Two transients pleaded no contest Monday to charges connected with a vicious assault in Redwood City in June during which a piece of the victim’s left ear was bitten off, according to prosecutors.
The incident unfolded about 2 p.m. Friday afternoon when transients Scott Richard Anderson, 33, and Ben Whited, 28, were panhandling at Whipple Avenue and El Camino Real, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Anderson’s girlfriend, who is Whited’s cousin and also a transient, went into a nearby Burger King to use the restroom and encountered the victim, a 54-year-old man. She said the man was being unkind to her and struck her, an allegation the victim denied. A witness at the scene did not see the alleged assault, prosecutors said. The woman went back to tell Anderson and Whited, who “charged down El Camino to a bus stop where the victim was standing and viciously attacked him,” prosecutors said.
“Anderson punched the victim and put him in a ‘rear naked chokehold;’ Whited also joined in punching the victim and then bit a part of the victim’s left ear off,” prosecutors said.
After the attackers fled, police were called to the scene and found the victim bleeding profusely and requiring hospital treatment.
On Monday, both Anderson and Whited, who have been in custody since the attack, pleaded no contest to felony assault and sentenced to 133 years county jail. They received credit for time served, allowing their release. Each were placed on three years of supervised probation, ordered to have no contact with the victim, and ordered not to possess weapons. They must submit to search and seizure by law enforcement, prosecutors said. They’ll also be required to enter counseling.
The men will return to court Sept. 19 to receive a Prop. 63 firearms relinquishment report and for the court to determine restitution to the victim.
Photo: Yelp.
