Joliet Man Charged With Miley Cyrus Gang Bar Beating Catches Felony Case in Connecton With Prior Bar Beating

One of three men charged with the Miley Cyrus Gang bar beating was hit with two felony charges for allegedly attacking a man and breaking his nose in a different bar last year.

Ryan Elliott, 27, of 1310 Cora St. in Joliet was charged with two counts of aggravated battery. He was booked into the Will County jail Thursday afternoon and is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond.

Elliott allegedly punched Jim Lanham in the face in June. Lanham said he was at the Essington Road bar On the Rocks when Elliott—who had been in a confrontation with other bar patrons—attacked him without provocation.

"I was just standing there," Lanham said. "I wasn't part of the fight or anything."

Lanham said a punch from Elliott broke his nose.

Elliott was arrested after the fight but prosecutors chose not to file charges against him. The case was reviewed and charges were filed Friday, five days after Elliott and two other men—Daniel Lahey, 26, of 2424 Morning Glory Lane in Crest Hill and Robert Krapil, 27, of 2806 Amanda Court in Joliet—were arrested for allegedly attacking two men and a woman at a different bar.

The three walked into the Hickory Street tavern Lety's Place and "started talking about Miley Cyrus" before beating up the men and woman, police said of Elliott, Lahey and Krapil, who have since become known as the "Miley Cyrus Gang." The story of the alleged Lety's Place attack has garnered national attention.

One of the two men who said he was beaten by the Miley Cyrus Boys at Lety's Place detailed the alleged attack in a video featured on Patch. The man, Donny Rice, told how the gang subjected a bar patron to racial slurs and told him to "go over and sit over at the other end of the bar with all of the other Mexicans."

Rice said the gang then began beating the Hispanic man and his girlfriend—whom he did not know but stepped in to try to save.

"I was just trying to protect one of the guys and the girl getting beat up and then they just switched from beating that guy and the girl up to me," said Rice, who explained he felt the need to help because the Hispanic man "was done. He was knocked out."

Prosecutors are still looking into the alleged attack at Lety's Place, said Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the Will County State's Attorney's Office. Additional charges could be filed before the men make their first court appearance.

Lanham said he was relieved to learn of Elliott's arrest.

"I'm just glad that they finally got him," said Lanham, who added, "I'm a little upset that it had to take him committing another crime and hurting someone else to bring it to the attention of the authorities."

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