Student beaten near campus

Blood still stains the ground where a Truman State student was allegedly assaulted by three young men early Sunday morning on the way home from a party.

Junior John Eacret said he was walking back to West Campus Suites from an off-campus Phi Sigma Pi party at about 2 a.m. when the incident began. He said an eastbound light-colored sedan followed by a dark pickup truck pulled up beside him at the intersection of Elson and Normal Streets, across from the Baptist Student Union.

Eacret said that after the cars' passengers shouted several obscene insults at him, he exchanged several remarks.

"I thought they were just playing around," he said. "You hear that a lot around campus, especially on weekends."

The cars then turned around on Normal and cut Eacret off when he was crossing the street, he said. Two young men exited the Sedan and one man exited the pickup. 

Eacret said when the driver of the white Sedan reached for him, he shoved the man and started running. The man immediately struck him in the face. Excessively bleeding, Eacret continued trying to run to West Campus for about a minute and a half while the three men repeatedly punched him in the face and upper torso.

Eacret said he did not strike back.

"If I fought back, they wouldn't have stopped when they did."

A girl in the back of the sedan stopped the attack, he said.

"She said ‘That's enough. Let's get out of here,'" Eacret said.

The five-person group seemed to be high school seniors or college freshmen, he said. 

Eacret said he sat down in the grass and called his PSP brother senior Zach Schwartz, who still was at the party. Schwartz said he and junior Jeff Wessel arrived in his car two minutes later, just after Public Safety Officer Donald Derickson pulled his car over when he saw Eacret.

Derickson arrived just after Eacret ended his call to Schwartz, before he had the chance to call 911, Schwartz said.

Schwartz said he helped put Eacret's shirt back on, which was ripped off during the attack, and called Eacret's roommate.

Schwartz and Wessel took Eacret to his room where he cleaned his face and showered. When Derrickson checked back about an hour later, Eacret refused medical attention, thinking his injuries were minor.

Eacret's mother insisted he go to the hospital when she arrived in Kirksville in the morning. In addition to a right black eye and bruises from his chest up, a CT scan revealed a broken nose and fractured right cheekbone. 

Tom Johnson, director of Public Safety, said the offense currently is classified as a third degree assault and has not identified any suspects.

"They've been with me every step of the way, asking me questions," Eacret said. "Officer Derrickson took me out on a little ride [Wednesday] looking at cars [around campus], trying to jog some memory."

Eacret said he didn't see parking stickers on the cars and he doesn't think the attackers are Truman students.

He said that because of the incident, he will try to avoid walking alone, especially at night after the incident.

"If they see me again, who knows, they might just get out of the car and continue," Eacret said. "But it won't stop me from going out."