SLO man accused of smashing girlfriend’s head through window pleads not guilty

San Luis Obispo developer Ryan Petetit on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to several felony charges related to an alleged domestic violence incident.

Petetit, former co-CEO of PB Companies, appeared in San Luis Obispo Superior Court with his attorney, Patrick L. Fisher, to enter his plea. He was arrested in November on suspicion of battering his then-girlfriend.

Petetit faces five charges: assault likely to cause great bodily injury, two counts of inflicting corporeal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, false imprisonment, and dissuading a witness.

An incident report filed by the Arroyo Grande Police Department alleged Petetit choked his girlfriend and smashed her head through a window at his home. He stepped down from his position at PB Companies in December.

According to court records, prior to the November incident, Petetit twice had been accused of battering women. No charges were filed after one incident, and the other case was dismissed before going to trial.

Petetit is also facing several pending civil and criminal cases. In July, a judge issued a $2,500 warrant for Petetit’s arrest after he didn’t appear at a debtor’s examination for one of his civil cases. He eventually posted bail and attributed his absence to a “miscommunication.”

A pretrial conference for Petetit’s domestic violence case was scheduled for Oct. 24.

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 2:24 PM with the headline "SLO man accused of smashing girlfriend’s head through window pleads not guilty."