A Bemidji man swung a baseball bat at two people and struck one of them in the arm after a fight outside a residence in Beltrami County, according to the complaint.
Keith Nathan Carmona, 39, faces three charges filed October 19 in Beltrami County District Court: second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, third-degree riot involving unlawful force or violence and disorderly conduct.
According to the complaint, deputies responded to a home in Beltrami County on October 16 after a reported assault. A sergeant learned that earlier that night there had been an allegation involving Carmona, and that one of the men went to his house to confront him about it. The complaint says an argument broke out and the visitors left.
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The complaint says Carmona followed the two outside, where a fight broke out between them. After the fight stopped and the parties began to return home, Carmona grabbed a baseball bat and began swinging it four to five times at the two, striking one in the arm. One of the two described the bat as black and blue, and the other described it as black, blue and white.
The complaint notes that the victim had a visible bump and dent in his right forearm, and the other person had scratches on his chest.
During the investigation, officers searched Carmona’s house under a search warrant and found a blue, black and white Easton aluminum bat near the couch.
At the jail, Carmona gave a Mirandized statement. He told officers that the other parties were intoxicated and had earlier been at the house for piercings. Carmona said he was sitting on the couch when the door flew open and the others entered, leading to an argument.
He claimed he shoved them outside, followed them out and agreed to fight, but said they did not hit each other and that he may have ripped a shirt and scratched one of them. Carmona denied using weapons and said he did not know how the victim was injured, but acknowledged there was a baseball bat and suggested it must have been thrown at him.
The complaint says the parties were arrested and brought to the Beltrami County Jail.
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