Man pleads not guilty in attack against Marine outside Sutra

A 24-year-old pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attacking and critically injuring a Marine outside a Costa Mesa nightclub, according to court records.

Mark Allen Vasquez of Pico Rivera appeared in the Harbor Justice Center and pleaded not guilty to felony charges of battery with serious bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, according to court records.

Vasquez also faces additional enhancements for inflicting great bodily harm and causing great bodily injury of a coma or paralysis.

The victim, Alex Martinez, 21, was struck in the head early Sunday by Vasquez outside Sutra in Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square. Martinez was in a medically induced coma and in critical condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana as of Wednesday.

Vasquez is being held at the Orange County Jail; bail is set at $25,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court again for a pretrial April 13.

— Sarah Peters