Federal lawsuit filed in Thirsty's bar beating case

• Watkins pleads guilty in bar beating

William Watkins covers his face Monday before pleading guilty to aggravated assault. (Chris Huber/Republic)

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — The conservator for a Fargo, N.D., man beaten at Thirsty's Bar in Mitchell has filed a federal lawsuit against the establishment.

Vicki Hubner, representing 36-year-old Clint Dreyer, filed the lawsuit against V.V. Inc. on Friday in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls. It alleges the bar was negligent and had a duty to control the conduct of its manager and employee.

Thirty-eight-year-old manager Thomas Somerville is to stand trial in February on a simple assault charge stemming from the alleged beating inside the bar on Sept. 30. Thirty-four-year-old employee William Watkins has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for beating the same man later the same night outside the bar.

Dreyer remains hospitalized in Sioux Falls.

A message left at the bar for the owner was not immediately returned.

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