Man attacks Intercontinental Hotel security officer with machete
St Paul MN March 3, 2022
A 40-year-old Minneapolis man who was drunk and told to leave a downtown St. Paul hotel went on to assault a security worker and another man before grabbing a machete, which sent people fleeing to a back room to get away, authorities say.
Daniel Kurt Vernier has been charged in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of misdemeanor fifth-degree assault and one count each of felony theft and felony threats of violence after Saturday’s incident at Intercontinental Hotel at 11 E. Kellogg Blvd.
Vernier has 15 prior felony convictions in Minnesota, the first dating back to 1999, court records show.
According to Monday’s criminal complaint:
The hotel security employee told police officers that Vernier was drunk and became agitated and aggressive after being escorted outside for refusing to pay for a drink at the bar. He pushed the security worker and tried to kick him in the groin several times, before landing a punch to his face that knocked off his glasses.
Vernier then ran up to a 49-year-old man in Kellogg Mall Park, across the street from the hotel, saying “You’re in my park!” The man said he was startled and walked away, but Vernier hit him on the right side of his forehead with a handheld radio that he took from the security guard, according to the complaint.
The man went to the hotel to get away from Vernier, took a machete from his backpack and told staff to call police. Hotel staff told him to put down the machete, which he did, and Vernier grabbed it and ran onto Kellogg Boulevard. He then went back into the hotel through a Wabasha Street entrance with the machete tucked under his arm, according to the complaint.
Vernier pulled the machete out and came toward the man, who went behind a front desk to get away and then followed employees to a back room, according to the complaint.
Officers found Vernier in the area, hiding under a car. He was booked at Ramsey County jail, where he remained Tuesday in lieu of $20,000 bail.
Vernier also has a pending criminal charge in Anoka County District Court for allegedly assaulting a worker at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes in 2020. This past January, Vernier failed to appear at a remote plea hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
