A judge Tuesday sentenced an Aliquippa man to up to 32 years in prison for brutally beating a fellow city resident inside a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge last year.
In January, a Beaver County jury found Brett Ours, 40, guilty of attacking Preston Coleman III, then 52, inside the lodge on Aliquippa’s Penn Avenue.
Video from the lodge showed Ours, unprovoked, assault Coleman mercilessly for nearly 30 minutes. First responders needed to airlift Coleman by medical helicopter to a hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
Coleman’s face and head were so swollen from the beating that surgeons performed a tracheostomy, inserting a tube into a hole in his neck so he could breathe, his daughters previously told reporters. In total, police said Coleman was punched nearly 250 times.
After 14 months of medical care, Coleman still needs to use a wheelchair.
“In January 2025, my father was brutally beaten and, in so many ways, we lost him that day, even though he survived,” Prashauna Coleman said in a victim impact statement that is part of the court record.
“Since this attack, our family lives with fear — we live with anxiety, we lived with depression and nightmares,” the victim’s daughter added. “Our peace was taken from us. Our sense of normal is gone. Even though my father survived, our lives will never be the same.”
Ours was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of simple assault, and one count each of strangulation and possessing an instrument of crime, court records show.
The jury found Ours not guilty of attempted homicide. Prosecutors previously withdrew eight other charges against him.
Beaver County Common Pleas Judge Kim Tesla sentenced Ours to 16 to 32 years in prison — more time than suggested by sentencing guidelines. His office did not respond to phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
“The sentence was definitely a big win for this office and it was definitely a big win for the family, who saw their father on the brink of death,” Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible told TribLive on Wednesday.
Bible said prosecutors’ move to show the jurors video footage of the attack was pivotal to the conviction.
“You can read the affidavit and you can hear the story but, really, when you see that video, it really shocks your conscience,” Bible added. “How can somebody be so cruel?”
Beaver County Chief Public Defender Kevin A. Kindred, whose office represented Ours, said Wednesday in a statement there was “admitted culpability” in the attack. Kindred added, however, he would be addressing unspecified issues with the sentence and other matters through future court filings and appeals.
A second man who attacked Coleman — Ronald Brown, 45, of Ambridge — pleaded guilty last week to aggravated assault in the case. A judge sentenced him to 3 to 6 years in prison.
Brown’s daughter — Ireland Brown, 22, of Ambridge — is awaiting trial on charges of aggravated assault, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence.
The two attorneys representing Ronald Brown and his daughter did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Police have said the elder Brown punched Coleman up to seven times in the midst of the attack.
The beating went on for so long that Ours sometimes took breaks between blows, prosecutors said. Ours also held down Coleman as Ronald Brown punched him in the head, neck and face, investigators said.
At one point during the attack, video showed Ours ask his girlfriend to give him his knife, according to a criminal complaint. She refused. Ours started yelling at her, then punched her in the face, police said.
Ours returned to Coleman, bludgeoning him with a bar stool and repeatedly strangling him, the complaint said. He sat on Coleman’s chest and punched him repeatedly in the face and head.
Tesla, the judge, ordered Ours to pay Coleman and his family nearly $120,000, court records show. Ours must make minimum payments of at least $100 monthly until the tab is fully paid.
A lawsuit related to the attack is progressing, according to attorney Steve Barth, who represents Coleman’s family. Attorneys are working to see if the VFW’s insurance policy would cover any damages, he said.
TribLive staff writer Paula Reed Ward contributed to this report.