AIRPORT COURTHOUSE — Two Arizona men arrested in connection with the brutal beating of a Santa Monica resident in September pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder, authorities said.
Bryan Scott Hale, 24, and Brett Davis, 25, are each being held on $1 million bail and are expected back in court on Jan. 31, according to a spokesperson with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The two men were arrested in October by deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department who were acting on information provided by Santa Monica detectives.
Both Hale and Davis formally fought extradition, forcing prosecutors to seek a governor’s warrant, which was approved on Dec. 8. Hale and Davis challenged the warrant. Their appeals were denied earlier this month.
Police released surveillance video that captured two men running away from the scene of the beating moments after the attack, which took place in the early morning hours of Sept. 22. The victim was identified as a 45-year-old movie producer who was exercising with weights on the 3100 block of Santa Monica Boulevard when he was beaten.
The video, which police released in hopes of locating the suspects, does not show the actual beating.
Police said Hale and Davis attacked the man from behind and used the weights to knock the victim unconscious. He suffered a collapsed skull, several brain bleeds, a broken jaw and neck and back fractures, authorities said.
Hale and Davis were said to be in Los Angeles working for a moving company at the time of the attack.
kevinh@www.smdp.com
