The victim underwent surgery on Guam to fix his broken left jaw as a result of Mark Aguilar Espeleta’s punch, according to court documents.
The victim had been eating through a tube and his speech was also affected. He incurred costs of over $4,000 as a result of his surgery, police said.
Espeleta was brought before Superior Court Judge Kenneth L. Govendo for his initial appearance and bail hearing yesterday morning.
Govendo retained the $10,000 bail order on Espeleta who was arrested by authorities on Monday in Finasisu.
Espeleta is being held on charges of assault and battery, and aggravated assault and battery.
The court directed Espeleta to stay away from his victim and NMC, and not to renew his passport.
Espeleta, who is an NMC nursing student, was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections after the hearing.
Chief Prosecutor Michael Ernest represented the government, while the court appointed Assistant Public Defender Benjamin Petersburg as Espeleta’s counsel.
Detective Raymond K. Borja said the incident occurred on Friday, at about 8 a.m., at NMC.
Police said the victim was sitting on a bench talking to a classmate when Espeleta approached them, and asked the victim if they could speak in private.
The victim said he and Espeleta walked a couple of feet away from the bench.
Espeleta asked the victim if he wanted to have a “peaceful conversation,” and told the victim to mind his own business, police said.
Without warning, Espeleta punched the victim on the left jaw, police said.
Espeleta also kicked the victim once in his ribs after the victim fell to the ground.
The victim lost consciousness for several seconds, and when he came to, he saw his brother trying to stop Espeleta from further assaulting the victim.
Espeleta in turn tried to punch and kick the victim’s brother, but the brother blocked them both.
“You better watch yourself!” Espeleta shouted at the victim’s brother as a responding security guard and other bystanders stopped the fight.
The victim was brought to the Commonwealth Health Center for treatment, but the x-ray results taken were not clear.
The victim was then referred to Seventh Day Adventist Dental Clinic for a better x-ray view of his injury.
It was revealed that the victim suffered a broken left jaw and the doctor recommended surgery.
As there were no doctors on island qualified to perform surgery on the victim, he flew to Guam on Sept. 13, police said.
Attending doctor on Guam told the victim he was lucky that he showed early for surgery otherwise his face would have been deformed as a result of his injury, police said.
The victim returned to Saipan after staying a couple of days on Guam after his surgery.
