AP Photo/ Matt SaylesNikki Blonsky's dad is in for a rather long layover...in police custody.
A judge in Providenciales Magistrates' Court in Turks and Caicos denied Carl Blonsky bail during a hearing this morning, ordering the actress' father to remain behind bars until his Aug. 19 trial.
The elder Blonsky was arrested on charges of assault and inflicting grievous bodily harm back on July 29 for his role in a bizarre airport brawl that involved his Hairspray-starring daughter, onetime America's Next Top Model contestant Bianca Golden and Golden's mother, Elaine, who wound up being airlifted to a Florida hospital as a result of the altercation.
During what witnesses described as heated hearing, an attorney for the 53-year-old Blonsky argued that his client should be released because he has a clean criminal record and suffers from various health problems.
"My client...is not a wealthy man," said lawyer Oliver Smith. "He works in a sewage plant. No prior convictions. He volunteers at his local church, coaches softball, baseball and soccer. He is taking Xanax, Crestor, and has nerve damage to his arm. He takes Percocet."
Smith also argued that Elaine Golden's injuries were not as serious as announced and that she was simply setting up a lawsuit.
Prosecutor Samantha Glinton, however, denied the latter claim, saying Golden was released to a neurologist after five days in the hospital and suffered "a right cerebral traumatic lesion" in the fight.
The judge rejected the bid for bail on the grounds that the Blonsky patriarch was a flight risk due to his status as a foreigner.
Should he be convicted of both charges, Blonsky could face up to five years in jail.
Both Nikki Blonsky and Bianca Golden, both 19, were also arrested on lesser charges and released on $6,000 bail apiece.
Golden has opted for a jury trial, which begins Sept. 17.
Nikki, who was not present for her father's hearing, has requested a bench trial (meaning a judge, and not a jury, will decide her fate), set for Dec. 1.
But she won't be twiddling her thumbs in the meantime. It was announced just yesterday that the teen is set to make her nightclub debut later this fall in New York.
Blonsky is currently preparing a cabaret act she'll perform at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, running Sept. 23 through Oct. 4.