Rochester Man Sentenced For New Year’s Day Assault
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has been sentenced to just over two years in prison for a brutal assault on a woman following a New Year's Eve party.
34-year-old Michael Vereese Brown pleaded guilty earlier this week to a third-degree assault charge through a plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of a felony count of domestic assault by strangulation. His 26-month sentence was reduced by the 116 days he has spent in jail since his arrest.
The criminal complaint says Brown was taken into custody after Rochester police responded to a report of an assault around 2:30 in the morning on New Year's Day. It indicates a woman called 911 and reported her daughter had just returned home from a party when she collapsed in the entryway with obvious serious facial injuries.
The responding officer found the victim still lying on the floor and bleeding from her eyes, mouth, and other facial injuries. She was missing at least one tooth and was covered in blood. The officer asked who attacked her, the woman responded by naming Michael Brown.
After receiving treatment at St. Mary's Hospital, the victim told police she had gone with Brown to a party along 18th Avenue Northwest when officers responded to shots being fired at that location. She indicated Brown was hiding while police were present and she decided to leave with a friend.
While later walking to her mother's residence, the young woman told police Brown forced her into his van and repeatedly punched her in the face and head, causing her to blackout. She indicated Brown eventually drove her to the parking lot at her mother's apartment, where he resumed punching her in the face. After losing consciousness for a second time, the woman said she managed to open the door to the vehicle and fall onto the ground where Brown stomped on her chest and stomach numerous times.
The court documents say the victim was able to get up and run into her mother's residence, where she collapsed and was found by her mother.
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