A Lesson in Anatomy After Altercation at West Des Moines Gentlemen's Club

West Des Moines Police didn’t make any arrests when they investigated an assault report at the Beach Girls strip club at 6220 Raccoon River Drive, but they did give the alleged victim an anatomy lesson.

Matthew Daniel Hays, 25, of 1150 S. Fifth St., told police he was injured, first by a female dancer and then by a bouncer, in an incident at 1:20 a.m. Wednesday.

According to the police report, Hays told officers he and friends were seated near the stage at the club when the featured dancer pulled him on stage, then pushed him to the floor repeatedly when he attempted to return to his seat.

Hays told police a second dancer came onto the stage and pushed his legs down, “then struck him really hard in the jugular,” according to the report.

The alleged victim told police he felt sick and vomited after the incident, and later was urinating blood, according to the report. He said the club offered him some free passes, but declined to give him the names of the dancers.

Hays said he left the club and called his attorney, who advised him to accept the free tickets. When he went back inside and asked for the passes, the bouncer, Vladimir Vladimirovich Tsukruk, 29, of 3000 University Ave., refused to give him the passes and said he’d “had his chance,” according to the report.

Accounts differ about what happened next. Hays told police Tsukruk “threw him over some tables and into a wall” and called him “a college boy and enticed him to fight so he could knock his teeth in.” Hays claimed Tsukruk pushed him into the lobby area and into the parking lot, where he fell.

Police questioned Hays’ version of the story, asking why he had no marks on his body after having been thrown around. According to the report, Hays said he “caught himself as they were throwing him around.”

Police also questioned Hays’ claim about the attack on his jugular and how that might cause blood in his urine. Upon further questioning, Hays admitted that the injury had been to his groin area.

Tsukruk said surveillance video will back up his version of the story.

Tsukrak acknowledged that Hays was pulled on the stage by the bouncer, but said he lay down on the stage as the two women danced around him. “One started lightly smacking [Hays’ genitalia],” according to the report.

Tsukrak also did not dispute that Hays was offered passes for free admission, or that he denied them when Hays returned after leaving the club. Tsukrak told police that Hays became upset and he told him to leave, then placed his hands on Hays chest and “guided him out.” He said that Hays may have fallen when he left the club.

No arrests have been made, and police told Hays he could be charged if the videotapes back up Tsukrak’s vesion of events. Police called a taxi to take Hays home, according to the report, because he was intoxicated and his driver license was suspended.

Hays told police “he never hangs out at these places,” according to the report.