Four charged in downtown Columbia assault

Four people have been charged with assault after Columbia police found a man beaten and unconscious on a downtown sidewalk early Sunday.

Kyle L. Johnson, 23, Emory J. Montie , 23, and Alexander E. Nolan, 19, all of Columbia, were arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with the assault. Another man, Benjamin E. Nielsen, 22, has been charged but had not been arrested Wednesday.

Johnson and Nielsen were each charged with one count of first-degree assault with serious physical injury. Montie and Nolan were each charged with a count of first-degree assault with serious injury and a count of first-degree assault.

Police responded to the 100 block of South Seventh Street in downtown Columbia at 2 a.m. Sunday in reference to an assault, said Columbia Police Department spokesman Jeff Pitts.

When police arrived, they found one of the two victims on the ground and unconscious. One victim was taken to the hospital with “extensive injuries,” Pitts said. The other was treated and released from the hospital the same day, according to a probable cause statement.

After talking with witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage, police found that the victims and suspects were talking when the attack happened, which consisted of “multiple strikes,” Pitts said.

The suspects also allegedly took a necklace from one of the victims.

A witness identified the four men, according to the probable cause statement. The surveillance video shows Nielsen grabbing and punching one victim, the statement says. Johnson and Nolan then push the victim to the ground and punch the victim, according to the statement. Montie then punched the other victim in the face, the statement says.

The video then shows the four men beating the two victims while they were on the ground, according to the statement.

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