Man sentenced to probation on assault

A McCook man who allegedly beat another man with a baseball bat was sentenced to probation in District Court Monday.

Eric S. Pittman, 20, of 508 E. Fifth, was sentenced to 30 months probation for a Sept. 14, 2006, incident in which he and Brandon Carlock allegedly struck Darren Peters of McCook repeatedly with baseball bats and physically assaulted him.

Pittman pleaded no contest in a plea agreement to the amended charge of first degree assault, a Class III felony. He was originally charged with first degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, another Class III felony.

Carlock, also 20, pleaded guilty to the amended charges of third degree assault, a Class I misdemeanor and tampering with physical evidence, a Class IV felony. He was sentenced in February to one year with the Nebraska Department of Correction for the first charge and 20-60 months on the second, to be served concurrently.

According to court records, Pittman and Carlock were attempting to retrieve a dog from an ex-girlfriend when Peters stepped in to help her.

After the attack, Peters was taken to Community Hospital of McCook and flown to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney with multiple skull fractures and other injuries.

He has since returned home and is still recovering.