Man testifies about March beating

BENTON, Mo. -- A Scott City man testified Wednesday he was punched and kicked more than 100 times by three men in a March attack.

David A. Turner, 21, of Scott City, Kelly R. Church, 31, of Chaffee, Mo., and Trent Tancheck, 27, of Scott City, are all charged with felony robbery, assault and tampering with a victim.

The three, all of whom were being held in lieu of a $150,000 bond, appeared in court Wednesday before Associate Circuit Judge David Mann for a preliminary hearing. He found probable cause in the case and ordered all three to be arraigned May 25.

During the hearing, Gregg August, 44, of Scott City, testified the three defendants, whom he did not know, beat him outside Tancheck's home, 913 Oak St., the evening of March 4. August said he suffered abrasions and contusions around his head, two lacerations above his eyes that required stitches, and doctors told him he lost a pint and half of blood.

August said he has headaches and trouble focusing his eyes since the attack.

"It's the equivalent of looking through a fish tank full of guppies," he said.

Prior to the beating, August was pulling out of a local gas station when Tancheck's wife claimed he had backed into their vehicle. The couple and August exchanged information, and the witness gave the Tanchecks a ride home when they said they did not have their car keys, he said.

August was invited inside their home for a drink. Tancheck later asked the victim to take him to Chaffee to pick up some keys.

"The way they were posing the question was as if I didn't have a choice," August said.

After driving to a trailer in Chaffee, where Tancheck picked up a soda and not keys, the two returned to the Tancheck home. August went inside, said good-bye and was pulling away in his car when Turner and Church stopped him.

The pair asked August if he was a cop, which he denied, but added that he knew police officers.

"That's when the beating began," August said.

Turner punched August in the head and pulled him out of the car. Both Turner and Church punched him, and Turner kicked August.

"It was so hard, David Turner lost his shoe during one of the kicks," August said.

At one point, Church tried to stop the attack, provided August with a towel, and offered to let August punch him in retribution.

But when Tancheck came out of the house, the beating began again. Tancheck claimed August was a hit-and-run driver and asked if he was with the Drug Enforcement Administration. From August's wallet, Tancheck stole $2, and credit and debit cards.

All three pulled up August's shirt to search for a wire, and when they found none, they stopped the attack, August said.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127