EL CAJON
A man accused of dragging an El Cajon police officer, who clung to the man’s car before he was thrown in the street and badly injured, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to assault with a deadly weapon.
David Francis Cepeda Pangilinian, 41, is also accused of handing over a stolen identification card to officers after they roused him and his sleeping companion in a car parked along a city street last month.
Pangilinian who at the time of the encounter was on probation out of Los Angeles County for ID theft faces up to seven years, eight months in prison if he is convicted. The officer suffered broken bones and a brain hemorrhage.