REGIONAL BRIEFS: Man pleads guilty to abusing girlfriend’s 2-year-old son

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From the Forum News Service

Minnesota

Man pleads guilty to abusing girlfriend’s 2-year-old son

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- A Grand Rapids man accused of physically abusing the 2-year-old son of his live-in girlfriend pleaded guilty to felony domestic assault Monday.

Keegan Patrick Morin, 32, entered the plea in Itasca County District Court. He was charged in April with two felonies: the domestic assault and malicious punishment of a child for injuries Morin allegedly caused in early April.

Under the terms of a plea bargain, Morin will receive a guideline sentence of 15 months in prison. The prison sentence will be stayed and Morin will serve 90 days in jail and be on supervised probation for five years. A judge has to approve the plea, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 29.

The criminal complaint accused Morin of causing severe bruising to the boy’s face on or around April 4 to April 5 while the boy’s mother was at work. The alleged abuse was reported to police on April 5 after Morin dropped the boy off at the child’s grandmother’s home. Officers who responded to the grandmother’s call noted severe bruising on the child’s face and dried blood and small cuts around the mouth.

(DNT)

North Dakota

Joking text prompts robbery call to 911

FARGO – Police say a misunderstanding over a text message led to a bogus robbery report Wednesday at the Holiday convenience store in downtown Fargo.

A woman, frustrated about having to wait in line at the store, sent a text message stating that the store was being robbed to her boyfriend waiting in the parking lot, Sgt. Jared Crane said.

The boyfriend took the text message seriously and called police at about 3 a.m. to report a robbery in progress, causing officers to rush to the store at 101 N. University Drive, Crane said.

“The clerk had no idea what was going on until we went in and said, ‘Hey, were you robbed?’” he said.

The woman won’t face charges for the incident. She said she didn’t think her boyfriend would call police, Crane said.

“It was just a joke, and she certainly learned that that wasn’t a cool thing to do,” he said.

(FF)

Fargo police say report of home invasion false

FARGO – Police swarmed into a south Fargo neighborhood Wednesday after a man reported a home invasion involving a gun, but it was a false report and it appears the caller may have been hallucinating, Lt. Joel Vettel said.

Officers responded at about 7:30 a.m. to the rental duplex at 304 24th St. S. after the man reported that several people had entered his home with a handgun and threatened him, Vettel said. The man said he barricaded himself in his room.

Police set up a perimeter around the house and tried to make contact with those inside. Two men – including the caller – and a woman who live in the duplex eventually came out and spoke with police, and armed officers entered the building and cleared both units, finding no threats, Vettel said.

“It appears the caller may have had some sort of mental illness and possibly had hallucinated the incident,” Vettel said.

The incident caused commotion in the neighborhood as children stood outside waiting for school buses and people headed to work.

“That certainly can be alarming for people, but at no time does it appear that any of the public was at risk,” Vettel said.

The man who called police will be evaluated for his own safety, Vettel said.

(FF)

Tags: news, minnesota, crime