Former Santa Barbara Surgeon Charged with Assault, DUI

[Update, February 24, 2023]:

Each of Paul Cisek’s criminal cases have been adjudicated in the following manner, according to Santa Barbara County Superior Court records:

For the 2018 felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon that involved a Santa Barbara parking officer, Cisek pleaded no contest and was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation.

For his 2018 DUI charge during the same incident, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to six months and jail and three years of probation, which he served concurrently with the assault sentence.

Cisek was sentenced to four days in jail and ordered to pay fines and restitution after his 2019 DUI. The 2015 felony harassment charge was dropped, but he pleaded no contest in the case to the misdemeanor charge of “making annoying telephone calls” and was sentenced to an additional four days in jail.

The California Medical Board revoked Cisek’s medical license in June 2021.

[Original story]:

Former Sansum surgeon Dr. Paul Cisek, a prominent member of the clinic’s vascular department for nearly 20 years, is facing criminal charges of stalking, assault, and DUI. The charges stem from three separate cases dating back to August 2015; Cisek stopped working at Sansum in January 2017. Sansum spokesperson Jill Fonte declined to elaborate on the nature of his departure from the clinic, saying only they “have no ongoing professional relationship.”

According to prosecutor Kevin Weichbrod, Cisek briefly dated an employee in his office in 2015 before she ended things and tried to keep him “at arm’s length.” Cisek allegedly continued to text her — including a message that read: “I’ll come over without your permission” — and was recorded on video more than once incessantly ringing the woman’s doorbell. The harassment continued for three years. “The victim is afraid of the defendant based on the content and number of text messages over the years, showing up uninvited to her house multiple times, and an episode at Derf’s restaurant where the defendant pushed the victim up against a wall and tried to kiss her,” Weichbrod wrote in a court filing.

In a separate case, on December 1, 2018, a Santa Barbara Police Department parking officer noticed Cisek parked in a red zone during the Milpas Holiday Parade. She asked him to move, but as she walked back to her car, “she heard the defendant start his vehicle and the engine rev loudly,” wrote Weichbrod. Cisek allegedly sped toward the officer, hit the brakes, and skidded to a stop a few feet from her. He then reportedly gave her the middle finger, did a U-turn, and drove away. Police stopped Cisek a short distance away and arrested him for assault and DUI. His blood alcohol concentration was reportedly 0.23 at the time, nearly three times the legal limit.

Out on bail and driving with a suspended license, Cisek was again arrested on March 30, 2019, for a DUI hit-and-run in a Chapala Street parking lot. He allegedly smashed into an occupied parked car and fled the scene.

Cisek’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 2. He remains licensed as a physician and surgeon by the Medical Board of California. The office of his defense attorney, Elizabeth O’Brien, said she was traveling this week and could not comment.