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Former Hollister City Council member Rick Perez has been accused of assaulting former San Benito County Sheriff’s deputy Sandy Patterson during an altercation at the No on Prop. 50 rally at the corner of Hwy 25 and Sunnyslope Road on Oct. 18.
Dueling rallies unfolded at the intersection with Prop. 50 opponents on one corner and No Kings protesters and Prop. 50 supporters on the other three corners. Patterson alleges that Perez approached the No on 50 rally yelling and using obscenities while blowing a whistle in participants’ faces. She claims he jabbed her in the abdomen multiple times with a flagpole he was carrying before she grabbed it, threw it on the ground and broke it.
Perez denies that he poked Patterson with his flag pole, saying he was elbowed in the sternum by a member of the No on 50 group.
Officers from Hollister Police, San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, and California Highway Patrol were called to the scene after a 911 call, according to Patterson, but they made no arrests.
Patterson, the San Benito County Republican Party secretary, later filed a police report.
Both Patterson and Perez, a member of the San Benito County Democratic Central Committee, said the other person initiated the altercation.
Patterson claimed Perez first yelled obscenities toward the No on 50 group of about 20 people as he drove by and that he later crossed the street from the No Kings protest carrying a U.S. flag, blowing his whistle and chest bumping people.
She said Perez shoved San Benito County Republican Party treasurer Tony Avila and came “within inches” of her face and yelled at her.
In response, she said she turned the siren on her bullhorn to get him to step back but that Perez “jabbed me in the abdomen with the flagpole” and called her “a b***h.”
She said she knocked the pole of his flag away and stepped on it, breaking the pole.
When officers arrived, Patterson said she requested that Perez be arrested, and that a female sergeant in charge said there weren’t enough officers to do so.
“I was appalled by how I was treated,” she said, saying her group demonstrated on one corner of the intersection while the group of hundreds of people with the No Kings rally had the other three.
Patterson said she filed a police report, which BenitoLink requested but not yet received. She said she’s also considering filing a complaint against the officers at the scene and filing a restraining order against Perez.
“I hope Rick gets the help he needs,” she said. “I believe he was under the influence. He needs to be held accountable.”
Patterson made the same claims at the Oct. 20 Hollister City Council meeting where she said Perez verbally and physically attacked members of the No on 50 group. She also told the council she was “appalled” by how she was treated by officers.
“If this is the level of law enforcement that we have in Hollister, God help us,” she said.
Four community members, two of whom said they were not at the event, spoke in support of Patterson at the council meeting. Two said community members should be able to disagree but still get along.
Perez, however, said Patterson was lying and that videos of the incident prove it.
According to Perez, he never poked her with his flag pole and he said he. was attacked by a member of the No on 50 rally. He said he did not file a police report.
Perez said he drove by the intersection a few times cheering for the No Kings/Yes on 50 group and booed the opposition.
He said that once he parked, he walked across the street to speak to two people in the No on 50 group to “debate” about Christianity and faith and why they support President Donald Trump.
According to Perez, a man wearing a black shirt pulled the lanyard holding the whistle Perez had around his neck and then pushed his brother, Mark Salazar. He said Patterson then pulled down the pole, which included the flags of Mexico, the U.S., and Prisoners of War and Missing in Action, and stepped on the pole.
He said that is when he “lost it” and started yelling at Patterson.
“She said I poked her three times intentionally, I never did that,” he said, adding she was behind him when the incident occurred.
Contrary to Patterson’s claims that Perez was the aggressor, he said the man in the black shirt elbowed him in the sternum.
“I can actually forgive and understand the face-to-face,” Perez said, “Because he gets in my face and I blow my whistle, that’s mutual. But when he hits me in the sternum as he walks away, that’s cowardly.”
With regard to Patterson’s assertion that he was under the influence, Perez, who has been open about his substance abuse history, said he has been clean for more than a decade.
Perez said he wants the situation resolved and will request that Patterson publicly apologize for tarnishing his name, including during the Oct. 20 Hollister council meeting and with her statements to the media.
“That’s not cool,” he said.
Patterson was the county’s first female Sheriff’s deputy and retired from the force.
In 2023, as part of the Hollister City Council, an investigation sustained allegations that Perez yelled and used profanity toward San Benito County Supervisor Kolllin Kosmicki and “raised his voice, used profanity and acted aggressively” toward Hollister Councilmember Rolan Resendiz.
Both were violations of the City Council’s code of conduct and Perez received a verbal warning.
Perez has admitted to an extensive criminal history including dozens of arrests, as well as felony and misdemeanor convictions, and has served time in prison.
https://www.ksbw.com/article/former-hollister-councilman-assault-no-on-prop-50/69128268
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