SLO developer will stand trial in domestic violence case
Update 4 p.m. Sunday: Ryan Petetit’s attorney, Patrick Fisher, sent the following statement to The Tribune via email Sunday: “With the burden of proof at preliminary hearings so low, we expected Mr. Petetit to be held to answer. We were pleased with evidence and testimony presented at the hearing. We look forward to moving this matter toward trial where we are confident Mr. Petetit will be vindicated."
Original story: The felony domestic violence case against San Luis Obispo developer and former PB Companies co-CEO Ryan Petetit will move forward to trial, a judge ruled Friday.
Petetit, 28, is facing five counts, including assault likely to cause great bodily injury, inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Friday, following testimony by the alleged victim in the case as well as an Arroyo Grande police officer, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Michael Duffy ruled that enough evidence exists to take the case to trial.
Friday’s preliminary hearing had been continued to a later date several times over the course of many months.
Petetit’s attorney, Patrick L. Fisher, could not immediately be reached Friday afternoon for comment.
The developer was arrested in Arroyo Grande on Thanksgiving Day 2015 on suspicion of an attack that allegedly occurred days earlier in which Petetit reportedly choked his then-girlfriend and smashed her head through a glass window at his home. Court records showed that Petetit had twice previously been accused of battering women, but he was never charged in one case and the charge was dismissed before the trial in the other. Records show that Petetit has several criminal cases and civil lawsuits pending against him.
In December 2015, he stepped down — at least temporarily — as CEO of San Luis Obispo development firm PB Companies.
Last month, Petetit didn’t appear at a debtor’s examination for one of his civil cases, prompting a judge to issue a $2,500 warrant for his arrest. He has since posted bail and said through his attorney that the failure-to-appear was because of “miscommunication.”
Petetit is scheduled for a second arraignment Sept. 21 before Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen. The case will be van Rooyen’s first high-profile case since taking the bench July 29.
This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 6:22 PM with the headline "SLO developer will stand trial in domestic violence case."