A 23-year-old man pleaded innocent to allegations that he bit off part of a man's ear during a fight outside a downtown Kennewick bar.

Erik Pelayo-Vera faces an April 9 trial for second-degree assault.

During the Jan. 8 incident, Pelayo-Vera allegedly tore off part of Logan Booth's ear.

Booth, 21, of Kennewick, said he walked out of the bar with another friend who got hit by an unknown man. He claims that Pelayo-Vera then hit him, pulled him to the ground and bit his ear, court documents said.

Booth and witnesses at the scene identified Pelayo-Vera as the assailant, documents said.

His wife, Tonya Pelayo, previously told the Herald that her husband's friend was hit, and he was trying to pull people off to stop the fight. She said her husband didn't assault anybody.

Pelayo-Vera has hired Jim Egan of Kennewick as his lawyer. Egan asked the court Wednesday to modify the conditions of his release and allow his client to travel with his family to Nevada this weekend for a planned event.

Judge Bruce Spanner approved the request, but made Pelayo-Vera sign an extradition waiver, agreeing to be returned to Washington if he should get in trouble or try to run away while out of state.