Car as weapon?

In North County’s Superior Court on March 10, a young woman testified that she heard “pretty vulgar things” as she walked past a bar in Oceanside four months ago.

The 22-year-old brunette said there were several men standing outside the door of the bar when her group passed on the sidewalk, across the parking lot, and she thought comments were directed at her. “Something about ‘that pretty little ass,’ things like that.” She identified defendant Anthony James Medvec as one of the men and said, “I asked him if he was talking to me.”

This woman’s 22-year-old husband also gave testimony, and he confirmed that exchange. “She looks back at him and says, ‘You talking to me?’ He responded, ‘No I’m not talking to you.’”

The woman said the offensive stranger told her: “Yeah, just keep moving, fat bitch.”

Her 61-year-old father-in-law was walking in the lead of their threesome and he testified that he did not hear all of the back-and-forth. But the gray-haired man said he did hear Medvec say, “I wasn’t talking to you, you fucking bitch.”

The woman’s husband claimed that after he exchanged words with Medvec, he heard Medvec say to his pals: “I’m gonna fucking hit him.” And “he pointed at me, too.”

All the witnesses agreed that Medvec then walked past them and went into a nearby liquor store. And then the woman’s father-in-law advised, “I said, ‘Come on, let’s just go up the street.’” He wanted to avoid more contact with the alleged aggressor and “to get away from all of this.” He said, “We kept going to get away from them.”

The pedestrians continued on the sidewalk past the PCH Bar & Grill, which faces onto Pacific Coast Highway.

According to testimony and surveillance video presented as evidence, Medvec and several friends had been drinking beer and wine since mid-day on November 25, 2014, until the conflict occurred at about 4 o’clock that afternoon.

The young couple hurried ahead, crossing the street to catch a bus they wanted to take back to Escondido after their day at the beach. The older man fell behind because he had an injured knee and was walking with a cane.

When the older man stepped off the curb at the intersection of Cassidy Street, he was struck by a white Lexus. He suffered a broken ankle, knee, and ribs, a punctured a lung and a separated shoulder, he said.

Private defense counsel Ashby Sorensen suggested that the man failed to look before he stepped into the street, and that the accused driver, Medvec, had the green light.

The defense attorney referred to surveillance video presented by the prosecutor, which he said showed Medvec was not angry and did not fixate on the three passersby; instead, Medvec went into a nearby liquor store and then back into the PCH bar. He then allegedly got into a car to leave with his pals for their next destination.

The video showed Medvec and two men getting into a Lexus parked in front of the bar; Medvec drove because his friend who owned the Lexus had a suspended license, the defense attorney asserted. And the prosecutor’s own expert confirmed that the Lexus was not speeding, according to defense.

Medvec is associated with the Hells Angels and was on felony probation at the time of this incident, according to sources.

Prosecutor Christine Bannon has dropped the attempted-murder charge that was in her original complaint. The defendant now pleads not guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and felony hit-and-run. He is held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Medvec is next due in San Diego’s North County Superior Court on March 25, 2015.