Charges Filed in 2023 Rochester Stabbing That Left Wounds to Boy’s Neck & Leg
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office filed charges Thursday in connection with a stabbing that happened in Rochester late last year.
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Rochester Police responded to St. Mary’s Hospital on Dec. 7 on the report of a juvenile male who had been stabbed, the criminal complaint says.
The victim identified the suspect and the suspect later turned himself in. The defendant in the case also gave officers the knife used in the altercation, the charges say.
Text Message Exchange Leads to Fight & Stabbing at Rochester Home
Police learned the boy had been stabbed by Benjamin Randel Pater, the complaint says. The Waltham man was 23 at the time of the alleged stabbing and is now 24 years old.
The boy told police he had been exchanging text messages with three people who were with Pater throughout the evening of Dec. 7. Pater then decided to go to the juvenile’s house to fight with the victim, the charges say.
Pater and three other people arrived at the victim’s house and a fight ensued. The victim said Pater stabbed him after he had Pater in a headlock, the complaint says.
Officers interviewed the three people who went to the victim’s house with Pater. They reported witnessing the fight then and seeing Pater stab the juvenile, according to the court filing.
The witnesses told police they thought Pater was going to the boy’s home only to fistfight. They said they broke up the altercation after the stabbing and rendered aid to the boy, the complaint says.
The victim and witnesses said Pater stabbed the juvenile in the leg and neck. The boy required stitches to treat his stab wounds, the charges say.
The complaint says Pater turned himself in on the evening of the stabbing. The court document indicates the alleged stabbing took place at a home in southwest Rochester.
Pater has been charged with second-degree assault and fifth-degree assault. He’s due to make his first court appearance in the stabbing case next month.
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