Herrera ordered to take impulse-management class

Kirsten Searer

Friday, Aug. 20, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

Former County Commission chairman and one-time congressional candidate Dario Herrera on Thursday pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery charges stemming from an argument on the Strip.

Herrera, 30, agreed to take a one-day impulse-management class and pay $400 in restitution. He could have faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

"If you complete that (class), then the charge will be dismissed," Justice of the Peace William D. Jansen told Herrera in court on Thursday.

The $400 will go to the man with whom Herrera argued on April 1 at the Hawaiian Marketplace when the shopping area was still under construction.

Herrera was a consultant for the development company that built the shopping center, which is located in front of the Polo Towers on Las Vegas Boulevard South.

Herrera's attorney, David Brown, said he and his client are "certainly happy with the final resolution, which is a dismissal."

Herrera declined to comment on the battery charge on Thursday but has said he apologized to the man and his father.

"I was defending myself and I didn't mean to hurt anyone," he told the Sun in April.

Herrera is facing more serious legal troubles next year, when he is expected to go on trial on charges of accepting bribes from strip club owners while in office.