Three men are facing assault charges after allegedly beating one man and ramming another man with a truck during a fight in downtown Bozeman early Wednesday morning, Sept. 14, 2022.
Alfonso Dominguez, Breayan Valencia Cordova, and Irvin Garcia appeared in Gallatin County Justice Court on Thursday, each charged with aggravated assault. Garcia faces an additional charge of negligent vehicular assault.
According to charging documents, a patron inside the Crystal Bar at 123 E. Main was told three men were "messing with" his truck around 1 a.m. on Tuesday. When the man went outside and approached his truck, Dominguez, Valencia Cordova, and Garcia allegedly started assaulting him.
Court documents say the man was knocked to the ground and punched and kicked in the head and body. Another man in a nearby vehicle reportedly saw the assault and went over in an attempt to break it up. The suspects then allegedly began attacking the second man, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly kicking him in the head and face.
The first victim went back into the bar for help, at which point the three suspects got into Dominguez's truck with Garcia driving. Garcia initially drove forward into a crowd that had gathered, according to court documents, but then backed into the second victim who had gotten off the ground and was yelling at the truck.
The man was allegedly pinned between the truck and a dumpster that was knocked over by the force of the impact.
The reporting officer said in court documents when he responded to the scene, he saw a "dark colored truck" driving eastbound through the alley at N. Bozeman Ave. and E. Mendenhall St. with several people running behind and pointing at the truck.
The officer continued to follow and activated his siren as the truck continued southbound onto Rouse Avenue, then westbound on Main Street. The vehicle finally pulled over and stopped near the intersection of West Main Street and North Grand Avenue.
Garcia was reportedly initially compliant with officers but then began ignoring commands and walking toward the officers, who took him to the ground and placed him in handcuffs. Dominguez complied with commands, exited the vehicle, and was placed in handcuffs.
Valencia Cordova allegedly fled the scene earlier and was located and arrested by police as he was running.
Witnesses identified the three men as being involved in the assault. The victim who was struck by the truck was taken to the hospital with several broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, a bruised lung, and multiple cuts and bruises. No information about his current condition was released.
Dominguez, Valencia Cordova, and Garcia were initially transported to the Bozeman Police Department where they were interviewed. They were later charged and taken to the Gallatin County Detention Center.
We will update this story as we learn more details.
