Premo lawsuit seeks nearly $500,000 for medical expenses

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By ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star

A lawsuit filed in Cass County District Court seeks nearly $500,000 to cover the medical expenses of Anthony Premo Sr., who was attacked with baseball bats on his front porch.

Premo’s attorney, Shayla Reed of Omaha, filed the lawsuit on Sept. 9, one year to the day after the assault happened in Plattsmouth.

Cass County authorities arrested and charged Travis Meisinger, Anthony Houchin and                                                                                                                      Joshua Hauschild in the attack, which stemmed from a fight between groups of young people from Plattsmouth and Weeping Water.

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Tony Premo

Tony Premo

Authorities allege Meisinger, Houchin and Hauschild, all from Weeping Water, beat Premo as he walked out the door of his home to investigate a late-night disturbance. All three were charged with first-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

As part of a plea agreement, Houchin entered a no contest plea Monday to reduced charges of third-degree assault, a Class I misdemeanor, according to the Plattsmouth Journal. Houchin could be jailed for up to a year, pay a $1,000 fine or both. Sentencing was set for Nov. 3.

Last month, a Cass County jury convicted Meisinger, 19, of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for beating Premo. The maximum punishment for the offense is one year in prison and/or a $1,000 fine. Meisinger claimed self-defense during his trial.

Meisinger’s sentencing, originally set for Monday, has been continued until 3 p.m. Oct. 14, according to the district court clerk.

A jury trial for Hauschild is scheduled to begin Sept. 30. Premo, who suffered critical head injuries, is still recovering from the attack. Reed, in her filing, said Premo’s medical expenses now total $458,607, but he will incur medical expenses indefinitely into the future.

“As a result of Travis Meisinger’s and Anthony Houchin’s actions … Anthony Premo sustained severe, painful, permanent and disfiguring personal injuries,” Reed wrote in her lawsuit.

In addition to medical expenses, the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Premo and his wife Tracey, asks for damages to cover lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, physical and mental pain and suffering, and emotional distress. The couple also wants $1,387 to cover damage done to the siding of their house and the front doors.

Named as defendants are: Meisinger, Houchin, Joshua Hauschild, Dustin Hauschild, Alexis Haynes, Katie Nash and the parents  of  Travis Meisinger and Anthony Houchin, who were both minors at the time of the incident.

In the lawsuit, Reed claims Meisinger, Houchin, Joshua Hauschild, Haynes, Nash and Dustin Hauschild entered into an agreement and conspired to go to the Premo residence with the “intent to commit an unlawful battery.”

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at (402) 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.