Unusual Felony Charge Connected to Downtown Rochester Altercation
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man is facing two felony charges for allegedly using pepper spray during an altercation at a Rochester business last week.
Court records say Rochester police officers were dispatched to a business in the 300 block of South Broadway around 3:30 AM last Thursday after receiving a report of an assault. They met with a man who indicated that he had been sprayed in the face with pepper spray and that the tires on his vehicle had been slashed.
The man told the officers the incident had occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday, and that the suspect had returned to the business on Thursday. According to the officers, the pepper spray incident occurred when he removed the suspect from the business.
The criminal complaint says surveillance camera video reviewed by the officers shows the suspect slashing all four of the tires on the victim's vehicle.
The charges state that investigators identified 36-year-old Abdirizak Ahmed Farah as the suspect. The court document says Farah admitted he was at the business and pepper sprayed someone during an altercation. He denied slashing any tires.
He is charged with a felony count of unlawful use of teargas to immobilize another person and illegal possession of teargas by a person convicted of a crime of violence. Court records show Farah was convicted of a felony domestic assault charge in 2022.
Court records also show that Farah was charged with a gross misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property for allegedly slashing the victims tires.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in Olmsted County Court next week.
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