A group of attackers brutally beat a retired truck driver after a minor car crash, then said they were “upset” as they apologized while police investigated the assault.
Video of the incident shows several people kicking 63-year-old Lance Jeffries and dragging him through the street “as if he was a piece of lint,” according to his daughter, Valancia. The attack happened near an intersection in Jennings, Missouri, on Saturday afternoon, she told KMOV-TV.
Jeffries had rear-ended the family’s vehicle. After the crash, he went over to check on the people inside the other car — and was then attacked.
One of the women captured in the widely circulated video later attempted to explain why she lashed out after the collision.
“At that moment, my mindset was, ‘I’m angry, I’m upset, my kids are hurting, my vehicle is gone.’ I wasn’t really thinking, ‘Oh, this is an elderly man,’” Mary Moore told KSDK.
“My actions, they’re not OK at all. I am hurt and I am disappointed in myself,” she added.
Moore’s aunt, Tamara Logan — who was also shown kicking Jeffries as he lay on the ground — offered an apology as well.
“I apologize for kicking and slapping him,” Logan said. “I was in the wrong.”
Davion Alfred, the father of Moore’s children, also said he was “hurt” and “disappointed” by his conduct during the assault.
“None of that was justified,” he said.
Jeffries was attacked moments after checking on the occupants of the other vehicle, who were returning from a trip to the zoo.
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“They literally started screaming at my dad, and they literally jumped on my dad,” Valancia told KSDK.
“Kicking my dad, hitting my dad in the face, kicking him in the pelvis, dragging my dad and everything. They kicked him in the chest.”
Valancia said the attackers also took her father’s wallet, effectively robbing the retiree during the violent confrontation.
Jeffries was hospitalized with serious injuries after the beating. The attackers had left the scene before police arrived.
His family did not learn that he had been admitted to the hospital until about 10 p.m. Saturday — roughly five hours after the frenzied assault.
“His eyes are swollen shut,” Valancia said while describing her father’s condition.
“He has neck injuries, also. His jaw is swollen. He has blood clots in his leg and also in his stomach where he was kicked.
“So now he has to stay in the hospital so he can get surgery, and he’s in a lot of pain. He’s traumatized, he’s hurt, and he’s scared.”
Valancia said Jeffries was “brutally attacked” and she is now calling for accountability.
“We’re heartbroken. We’re devastated. We want justice. We need justice today,” she said.
Moore, Logan, and Alfred were held at the St. Louis County Jail on Wednesday but have not yet been charged. Another relative was also being held, according to reports.
Despite their apology, prosecutors have vowed to “fully prosecute those responsible” following a “thorough” investigation.