Two Easley Men Charged in Beating

Two Easley men have been charged in the beating that landed a third Easley man in the intensive care unit at Greenville Memorial Hospital last week.

The Pickens County Sheriff's Department arrested Terry Wayne Vuncannon, 31, of Easley and Matthew David Ragland, 20, of Easley on Aug. 21 for their involvement in a beating of another Easley man, police said.

Vuncannon was charged with second-degree assault and battery by a mob. Ragland was charged with second-degree assault and battery by a mob and violating his parole.

Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched Aug. 20 to a private residence on Nikol Lane. When police arrived, one man was found lying on the ground bleeding profusely with severe head trauma.

Police found a baseball bat, a shower rod and a folding knife at the scene, according to the police report.

According to the defendants the men had been arguing over a girl the victim wanted to "get with." The defendants, both intoxicated, told police the victim hit the girl before they began to fight.

Vuncannon told police he struck the victim in the head with a baseball bat in self-defense. Police said Vuncannon and Ragland then proceeded to strike the victim "with a baseball bat repeatedly and kick him as the victim was lying defenseless on the ground."

The arrest warrant for Vuncannon said the pair had "struck the victim in the head two times, once with a crowbar and once with a baseball bat."

The victim suffered facial and skull fractures, bleeding to the brain and bruising to his ribs, but has been discharged from the hospital's intensive care unit.