ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- A 31-year-old man who attacked a 67-year-old womanon the Oceanside Pier will serve eight years in prison.
On Isaac Pettigrew was sentenced Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court in Vista on assault charges in the Sept. 22, 2015, attack on MaryAnn Rush. Pettigrew knocked Rush unconscious while she was walking her dog under the pier near her home. He then ran away.
She was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where she received treatment in the intensive care unit.
Pettigrew, a transient with a long criminal history, recently served time in Oregon. His record includes arrests for harassment, assault, attempted arson, and criminal mischief. This is his second felony conviction for assault.
Rush’s little dog, Edie, ran home after the beating and that alerted neighbors that something terrible had happened. She spoke to 10News Wednesday. She was pleased with Pettigrew’s prison sentence.
"I'm not afraid of him,” Rush said. “I wasn't afraid of him. I didn't remember him at the pier. And I don't know why he chose me. But I'm not going to be his victim."
Rush suffers from vertigo because of the attack.
"I'm aware of my situation a little more. I kind of am aware of what's going on, not that I wasn't before, but I didn't have that fear and I just kind of look around a little more. I don't like to be followed, that's one thing."
Rush says she still comes to the pier for walks. She does not want any restitution from Pettigrew.
