River Rage

Family and friends, meanwhile, say they tried to identify the men who assaulted Huelsmann. Says Bland: "We were pointing, and all this time people are leaving, and we're going to the officers, 'There they go, there they go!'"

Claims Hunter: "Steve was the only one bleeding, and the water patrol just kept telling us to 'shut the fuck up.' They took away our right to prosecute the people who did this."

"I believe everyone was well taken care of," says Amighetti. "We administered first aid, which included giving him gauze and a towel, but the injury wasn't life-threatening." As to allegations that profanity was used, he adds, "I don't use that language."

Amighetti says that the water patrol's small local unit — only three officers spread between the Mississippi/Missouri River Confluence and Hannibal — makes it difficult to investigate river brawls. "By the time you get to the scene," Amighetti says, "people are already starting to scatter and it becomes very difficult to find out what happened. It's unfortunate that we couldn't catch any more of them. But again, you do the best you can with what you have."

The state's case appears to center on a statement from a Eureka man, Carl Broyles Jr., who claims he saw, from 30 yards away, Cheri Hunter raise a pistol in the air.

"Me and my two friends had gone up to Pere Marquette and were cutting back through the Chute to go home," explains Broyles. "There were gals dancing on top of the boats, and I knew they were getting ready to take their tops off, so we stopped to see what was going on. We weren't there five minutes when all this happened."

Broyles, though, concedes he's un- sure if Hunter pointed the gun at him. "I don't know if it was exactly at me. I don't think the gal knew exactly what she was pointing at."

Says Hunter: "If I'm guilty of anything it's saving Steve's life. I believe if I had not gotten that gun out, instead of planning a trial, I would have been planning Steve's funeral."