A stabbing at a private party on the eastern edge of campus sent one man to the hospital early Saturday morning with minor injuries.
An assailant stabbed Marques Martin in the back of his left knee sometime after 12:30 a.m. at the Profile Center, a multi-purpose, music-based center, which had been rented out for a private party. The facility is located at 2630 University Ave. S.E.
After initially refusing treatment and yelling into the building in an effort to confront his attackers, Minneapolis police transported Martin to Hennepin County Medical Center where he was treated for a minor stab wound.
Authorities asked the business to end the party and clear everyone out of the building after the disturbance.
Building owner Patrick Kellis said he shut down the party voluntarily after talking with police about the crowd and the fight.
“We talked to the police and we agreed that this was the best thing to do,” Kellis said.
He added he will not be renting out the building to this particular group again: “We just got a crowd that we didn’t anticipate, so we’re not going to do it anymore.”
Party conditions did not improve after people began exiting the building.
Fights began outside and people started refusing to leave, as police noticed large numbers of people reportedly sporting gang tattoos and colors.
According to the police report, party-goers told police that many of the people were armed, forcing police to use chemical irritants to break up the fights and disperse the crowd.
Police did not ticket Kellis but told him that he would be contacted by the SAFE unit, a community crime prevention program of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Crime prevention specialist Nicole Magnen, who works with the unit, said she’s had conversations with the owner before about the behavior of its patrons based on complaints from passers-by, neighboring apartments and businesses.
“We just talked about controlling the crowds,” Magnen said. “We just talked about some of the issues that have been going on there.”
“I didn’t warn them,” she added.

In other police news:
ù Minneapolis police responded Sept. 26 to a burglary at a medical fraternity located at 632 Erie St. S.E.
One or more suspects stole a video cassette recorder and a small television from one of four houses owned by Phi Rho Sigma.
The theft occurred between 9 and 9:45 p.m., while residents of the two apartments upstairs in the two-level house were home.
“There were people at home,” said second-year medical student and fraternity president David Strothman. “They just had no idea. It’s kind of blind luck that nobody saw or heard anything.”
The crime was reported shortly after 10 p.m when a resident returned to the house to pick up laundry. The person then noticed the back door had been pried apart and the lock knocked out.
Once inside, the assailant went up half a flight of stairs leading toward the apartments upstairs to take the small television.
“It seems borderline stupid,” Strothman said. “Two apartments up there and people were home, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Strothman said the equipment will be replaced and, although the fraternity will replace the lock for the back door and add some new security lights in the area, he’s not overly worried about security.
“You kind of always know that if somebody wants to get into your place they’re going to get in,” Strothman said.
“I don’t think there is much you can do about it.”
The police report lists no suspect or witness information.

ù An unidentified man broke a window and attempted to enter the residence of Richard Gisselquist at 503 Second Ave. S.E. on Sept. 26.
Investigating noises he thought were made by his cat, Gisselquist found a man attempting to enter the house through the bathroom window.
Gisselquist said he was surprised and angered when he saw the man.
“I just told him to get out of here, to get away,” he said.
The intruder told Gisselquist that someone named Steve told him to crawl in the bathroom and wait for him.
Gisselquist said he does not know a Steve.
“He was probably drunk,” Gisselquist said.
According to Minneapolis police reports, the intruder probably climbed a tree in order to reach the second-floor deck, where he cut the bathroom screen to gain entry to the house.
The man was gone by the time police arrived.
Despite the intrusion, the ordeal wasn’t half as scary for Gisselquist as for his dog.
“My great big 80-pound dog, who could’ve contributed to the situation, was lying down at the top of the stairs with his head in his paws,” he said.

Justin Costley covers police and courts and welcomes comments at [email protected]. He can also be reached at (612) 627-4070 x3224