Man was trying to protect woman

Trying to protect his daughter-in-law from an assault, a 56-year-old man suffered a beating Monday night that almost killed him, according to court records.

Spokane police have assigned a detective to investigate the beating of Anthony M. Resendez, which occurred at 11:45 p.m. across from the 3 Dishes Restaurant at 3525 N. Division St., Sgt. Joe Peterson said.

On Wednesday, 20-year-old Samson Lawrence Lane appeared before District Court Judge Annette Plese for a first appearance on the charge of first-degree assault in connection with the incident.

Plese ordered Lane held on a $100,000 bond.

He was also charged with misdemeanor assault as part of the same incident.

Resendez suffered a severely lacerated upper lip, a hole in his chin, multiple head lacerations, a collapsed larynx, crushed cartilage surrounding his trachea and possible broken bones that surround his eyes, according to court records.

Resendez, who also lost several teeth, was upgraded Tuesday from critical to serious condition, Peterson said.

“He is still not coherent. We can’t talk to him,” Peterson said. “It was a pretty severe beating.”

The incident started inside 3 Dishes Restaurant, according to Officer Rob Boothe’s police report. Lane was there with a woman who was identified in court records as Lane’s ex-girlfriend.

Lane “struck her several times inside” the restaurant and she fled, Boothe wrote. Resendez, who is the woman’s father-in-law, “attempted to come to her aid and the defendant began to assault” him.

Another witness told Boothe that Lane and Resendez walked across the street from the restaurant. It’s then that Lane knocked Resendez down.

“The defendant began kicking the victim in the face with both of his feet and … continued to kick him in the face for approximately 40 seconds,” Boothe wrote.

In court Wednesday, Judge Plese said Lane had been homeless for more than a week before the incident.

He has one juvenile conviction for eluding police and two warrants for failure to appear in court.

Plese asked Lane if he understood the charges.

“I understand they are accusing me of it, but I don’t understand how,” he told Plese.