Bloomington MN June 24 2018 A 22-year-old St. Paul man who suspected his girlfriend was flirting with another man at a social gathering expressed his disappointment at Mall of America in Bloomington, and earned an arrest for it.

Bloomington police officers were dispatched to the mall’s east parking ramp shortly before 4 p.m. June 9. A 42-year-old Texas man reported that the suspect was assaulting his girlfriend, a 22-year-old Oakdale woman. The witness said that as he was leaving the mall, he heard the sound of metal hitting the ground. He saw a metal sign on the ground and the suspect nearby. The suspect grabbed his girlfriend, shook her, picked her up off the ground and shook her again, according to Bloomington Police Cmdr. Kim Clauson.

The witness said that when he approached the duo, the man began to walk away with his girlfriend in tow. The witness reported that the man told him to stop following them and threatened to shoot him before reaching into his waistband for what appeared to be a handgun. At that point the witness stopped following the duo, Clauson said.

Mall security officers located the duo inside the mall and approached them. The man took off running toward the parking ramp, but was met at the ramp by police officers, who attempted to detain him. He resisted, but the officers were able to detain him with force, Clauson noted.

When questioned about the reported assault, the suspect claimed that he had been arguing with his girlfriend, but had not assaulted her, and that his hand was bleeding from punching a sign and a pillar. He did not offer an explanation for the handgun found in his waistband, or the brass knuckles in his pants pocket, Clauson added.

The suspect was booked on suspicion of second-degree assault, domestic assault, carrying a firearm without a permit, possession of brass knuckles, criminal damage to property and obstructing a police officer with force.

hometownsource.com 

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