Rochester man charged in incident in which man was knocked out
Jul. 23—A 27-year-old man is believed to have suffered non-life threatening injuries after another man punched him on a downtown sidewalk early Friday.
The alleged assailant, 25-year-old Yasin Abdiasis Sufi, was arrested about 30 minutes after the incident and was charged Friday morning in Olmsted County District Court with felony third-degree assault.
Rochester police were called about 12:35 a.m. to the 300 block of South Broadway Avenue for a report of an assault that took place on the sidewalk. Witnesses told police the 27-year-old may have been disparaging a man who was killed in a shooting downtown in early June.
Witnesses told police Sufi took offense and punched the other man once, appearing to not cause any injury, the criminal complaints states. The two separated and "for a moment, it appeared they would shake hands and make a truce," but Sufi hit the man in the head, the complaint states.
Witnesses said the 27-year-old man may have been unconscious for about a minute. When officers arrived, one "firmly rubbed" the man's chest, but he did not awake, the complaint states.
"Eventually, after much effort from officers and medical responders, (the man) regained consciousness, but was still too disoriented to speak," court documents read.
Rochester police Capt. Casey Moilanen said the man's injuries are believed to be non-life threatening. As of Friday morning, police had not yet been able to interview him.
A witness was able to give police the alleged assailant's last name and officers, who were familiar with him, found him in the area of Civic Center Drive and East Center Street about 30 minutes later.
