By CAMERON ALDE
A BYU student is still recovering from injuries he received when four people, including his roommate, assaulted him, leaving him hospitalized overnight with a compression fracture to his skull and stitches on his forehead.
On Jan. 13 at 9:22 p.m., Beau McCrianey, 25, majoring in psychology, was in his room at Branbury Park Apartments when a man came in and with the help of three other men began assaulting him.
McCrianey moved into the apartment a week prior to the incident, and apparently a comment he made on the phone upset his roommate’s friend. The friend of the roommate instigated the assault.
“The guy had called five times in the last hour. I told him I’d written his messages down and that as soon as my roommate gets in he’d return his calls. It was your typical conversation,” McCrianey said.
“I was trying to be nice to the guy and next thing I know he’s in my room going ballistic,” McCrianey said. “It’s unbelievable to me, are phone skills something to kill someone over?”
Provo Police Capt. Pearpont said the assaulters used a racquetball racket and their fists to beat McCrianey for approximately three or four minutes.
“After one of the assailants struck me in the head with the racket, the others jumped in and started to hit me till I fell on the ground where they all began kicking me,” McCrianey said.
“I remember thinking, the only way to get out of this was through praying,” McCrianey said. “Thank goodness they finally stopped.”
McCrianey said two of the assailants were over 6 feet tall and he believes they are former U.S. Marines.
McCrianey was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where a two-inch gash on his forehead was stitched up. He was released the following morning.
“Sure my head aches, but even more my whole body aches from being kicked,” McCrianey said. “I don’t think there’s a inch of me that isn’t bruised.”
Pearpont said the incident is being reviewed and the four suspects will most likely be charged with simple assault rather than a felony charge.
In retrospect, McCrianey said, “I feel like I was put into a den of lions there. I’m just glad I wasn’t hurt more seriously.”
McCrianey has since moved to another apartment.
