Two arrested for alleged downtown assault, robbery
Jun. 28—Two people were arrested early Saturday after police say they assaulted and robbed a 24-year-old Rochester man.
Rochester police were called about 2:20 a.m. to the area of Fourth Avenue and Fourth Street Southwest for a report of a robbery.
Officers arrived to find a 24-year-old Rochester man on the ground, bleeding from his nose with large bumps to his forehead. The man was visibly confused and unable to stand on his own, Rochester police Capt. Casey Moilanen said.
A 24-year-old woman told officers that she and the man had been downtown at a bar and were walking in the area of Fourth Avenue and Fourth Street Southwest when the man saw a car he believed was his friend's. The man walked toward the car, but turned around when he realized it wasn't his friend's vehicle.
As he was walking away, a group of five to six men got out of the vehicle and started walking toward the pair. The group then assaulted the man, punching, hitting and kicking him repeatedly.
The woman told officers she tried to step in but was unsuccessful.
The group of men left the area in a silver sedan. Using a description of the suspect vehicle, officers located it a short time later on East River Road and Penny Lane Northeast. Officers stopped the vehicle and arrested the two people inside. The pair matched the description and photos of suspects involved in the assault, according to Moilanen.
Tabarie Gunsallus, 21, of Austin, and Ochonge Gilo, 18, of Rochester, were arrested on suspicion of simple robbery and fifth-degree assault. Gilo could also face charges of possession of a small amount of marijuana and fifth-degree controlled substance crime.
Neither had been officially charged in Olmsted County District Court as of 9 a.m. Monday.
One the men reportedly told officers that the 24-year-old man initially approached their vehicle with a knife, tried to open a door of the vehicle and then came at the group once they were outside of the vehicle.
The incident remains under investigation.
