Wichita man who hit three people, four vehicles and Club Rodeo sentenced to probation

A 43-year-old Wichita man who hit three people, multiple vehicles and a south Wichita nightclub last year before taking off in his SUV has been sentenced to two years of probation, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Jason Beard was also ordered to pay $5,000 to Club Rodeo, $1,330 to an individual whose car was damaged and $500 each to two other car owners. Additionally, Judge Bruce Brown ordered Beard to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings three times a week for 90 days.

Beard pleaded guilty on March 23 to aggravated battery, five counts of criminal damage to property and three counts of misdemeanor assault, the DA’s office said in a news release.

If he violates probation, he would be ordered to serve 20 months in prison, the release said.

First responders were called to Club Rodeo, near MacArthur and K-15 and just south of the Kansas Turnpike, at 10:39 p.m. Aug. 11, 2022.

Beard, who was driving a Yukon Denali, hit two bouncers, a woman and the building, according to the DA’s office and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office previously said the suspect got into an argument in the parking lot with the woman who was hit and that she left before officers arrived.

One of the bouncers who tried to stop Beard was dragged by the Denali, the release says. The bouncer was taken to a hospital with a foot injury.

“Witnesses say Beard backed the large SUV into the Club Rodeo building two or three times, damaging the metal façade, the front sliding glass door, and a pillar holding up a portion of the roof,” the release says. It caused an awning to collapse. “On the way out of the parking lot, Beard’s vehicle struck four unoccupied vehicles.”

Beard drove east on MacArthur and then abandoned his SUV when he was blocked by a train at K-15, the sheriff’s office previously said.