GREAT FALLS — Shayne J. Hickman has been charged with aggravated assault after he allegedly beat a man into unconsciousness.
Court documents state that a Cascade County Sheriff's deputy was dispatched to a residence in Vaughn for a report of an assault. One witness told the deputy that Hickman, Hickman's wife, and the victim arrived at the residence to drop the victim off, and the Hickman and the victim began arguing. The court documents also note that Hickman "is substanially larger than the victim."
Hickman then reportedly began hitting the victim with closed fists on the head numerous times, causing the victim to lose consciousness; the victim fell to the ground and remained unconscious for about two minutes.
A second witness heard the commotion and went outside, where he saw Hickman standing over the victim's body "in an aggressive stance," and said that Hickman's wife was trying to pull him away from the victim. Hickman then reportedly drove away.
As the deputy was talking to the victim, the victim again lost consciousness, this time for about 15 minutes. Medical personnel arrived and determined that the victim was not able to fully regain consciousness at that point, and took the victim to the emergency department at Benefis Health System for further care.
The deputy then was able to find Hickman in Vaughn, arrest him, and take him to the Cascade County Detention Center. Hickman refused to talk with the deputy when questioned about the incident.
The court documents state that Hickman has a criminal history in Texas, Oklahoma, and Montana, including numerous incidents of domestic assault with weapons. In addition, he has several charges for failure to appear in Oklahoma, and "there appears to be active warrants for him out of Oklahoma for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and for dangerous drugs."
