Parent fight follows Capri Elementary fundraiser

NOTE: This story has been updated from a previous version.

 

A fundraiser for Capri Elementary School on March 25 that was billed as “a fun evening out with other Capri Families” was marred by an altercation in its aftermath in which one parent allegedly slashed another parent’s face with a broken bottle.

But an attorney for the man arrested in the incident said the fight arose from a “series of intolerable insults directed at his wife.”

The incident reportedly occurred at the Hilton Del Mar, the site of Capri Elementary PTA’s Run for the Roses Spring Auction Gala, which raises money for, among other things, the school’s enrichment and health and wellness initiatives.

Capri Elementary Principal Carrie Lancon said the fight occurred after the fundraising portion of the evening ended in a bar outside of the gala room.

“The fundraiser was over,” Lancon said. “It certainly didn’t effect the fundraiser, which was very successful.”

San Diego Police responded to Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, where the victim received medical care for his injuries.

Police arrested the suspect, Chad Fuller, at his home the next day on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, San Diego PD public affairs officer Billy Hernandez said.

Fuller, a financial services attorney with Troutman Sanders law firm, posted $30,000 bond and was released from San Diego Central Jail shortly after his arrest. He is scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. April 4 at the San Diego Superior Court Central Courthouse in Downtown San Diego, San Diego County District Attorney spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said.

The district attorney has yet to file charges against Fuller.

Paul Pfingst, an attorney who represents Fuller, said that his client regrets the entire incident, but that his client was provoked by repeated insults hurled at his wife by the alleged victim.

Pfingst declined to elaborate on the insults, saying that he did not want any of them to be repeated.

“He certainly regrets the entire incident, I mean, it is a school fundraiser,” Pfingst said. “But at this point, I expect there is video and witnesses to the event and I think when it comes out to what started the event, it will be seen this was not an unexplained, spontaneous fight.”

The gala, which ran from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. included a happy hour and betting, a dinner and live auction and two hours of dancing, according to the website. The auction raised more than $54,000 for the Encinitas Educational Foundation, the school district’s fundraising arm.

Lancon said that she didn’t know either of the parents involved in the fight, but said their actions shouldn’t reflect negatively on the Capri community or the fundraiser itself.

“I can’t say I am disappointed in their actions because what happened was a private matter between two adults away from my school,” Lancon said. “You wouldn’t say the fight reflected on the city of Encinitas poorly just because they were both from Encinitas, so no, it doesn’t reflect on the badly on the school. It has nothing to do with Capri.”