A man struck two people with a baton at a Virginia residence, leaving one with a bleeding head wound and the other saying he could not see out of his eye, according to the complaint.
David John Boettcher, 33, faces charges of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and fifth-degree assault for inflicting or attempting bodily harm, filed October 19 in Saint Louis County District Court.
According to the complaint, law enforcement responded to an assault call at a residence in Virginia at about 4:31 p.m. on October 15. A police lieutenant found two men outside behind the house, both with visible injuries. One appeared to be bleeding heavily from the top of his head, while the other had dried blood on his lip, a red line on his forehead and redness close to his right eye.
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The man with the head injury told officers a “big guy” assaulted him with a baton after he entered the house. He said he was hit at least three times with a hard object and did not see the weapon but noticed it was a baton. The other man said he was hit hard and went down to his knees, and that the attacker pushed open a bathroom door and struck him again.
A police lieutenant knew Boettcher and recognized that he matched the suspect descriptions, the complaint says.
Three women at the scene told officers they only heard screaming and did not see the altercation.
An officer photographed apparent blood on the bathroom door and later found apparent blood on Boettcher’s sweatshirt and shoes. Law enforcement did not recover the baton used in the assault. Boettcher was located and taken into custody at his listed address in Virginia.
The complaint lists a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, a $14,000 fine or both for the assault with a dangerous weapon count, and 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine or both for the fifth-degree assault count.
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Jurisdictional Context
Saint Louis County is Minnesota’s largest county by area, stretching from Duluth to the Canadian border. The Saint Louis County Attorney’s Office prosecutes felonies through the Sixth Judicial District; cases are heard at courthouses in Duluth, Hibbing and Virginia.
