Two men attacked a University of Minnesota student near Pleasant Street Southeast early Saturday morning, according to a University police report.
The 32-year-old victim was attacked from behind by two 18-year-old males, who punched him and kicked him until University police arrived at the scene. The suspects attempted to flee, but the police forcefully arrested both of them on suspicion of assault, underaged consumption of alcohol and attempting to flee police.
The Minnesota Daily generally does not identify crime victims that don’t want to be named.
The victim said he was walking near Pleasant Street around midnight when a “crazy guy” began yelling at him. He said the man appeared to be drunk, and he tried to keep on walking to avoid talking to him.
The man grabbed the victim by the neck from behind, according to the victim. The suspect then attempted to put the victim into a “headlock,” but he said he was able to pull himself free.
The victim then tried to push the suspect into a wall, but another suspect began punching and kicking him, and he fell to the ground, the victim said. Both suspects continued to kick the victim while he was on the ground, he said.
There were a “couple of people” around that tried to intervene, but none of them were successful, the victim said. The assault continued until University police arrived and arrested both suspects.
The victim didn’t sustain any injuries but said he was very upset about the assault and hoped the suspects would spend a long time in jail.
“These guys were crazy,” the victim said. “If they get out of jail, they will just come back next weekend and do it again.”
Homecoming weekend sees few ‘serious’ incidents
The assault was the only “serious” criminal incident University police responded to over homecoming weekend, Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said.
“Overall, we had lots of incidents and lots of calls,” Miner said. “But thankfully, we did not have too many serious incidents.”
Only one alcohol-related incident occurred during the Homecoming Parade on Friday, Miner said. University police responded to six “misconduct-related” incidents at Friday’s B.o.B. concert and Saturday’s football game.
The six incidents that occurred at the game were fewer than at a typical football game, Miner said.
“I think Mother Nature kept a lot of people away from the game,” Miner said. “The rain kept the attendance down compared to an average game.”
In total, University police responded to more than 20 alcohol- and drug-related incidents over the weekend, according to University police reports.
“I’d say we had a pretty good weekend,” Miner said. “It wasn’t any worse or better than homecoming weekends in the past.”