Two of the six people charged have pleaded guilty in the springtime ambush of pedal pub riders with water balloons and high-velocity squirt guns in Minneapolis.
A jury trial had been scheduled for Monday, but Ryan M.P. Barth, 32, of Pine City, Minn., pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to interference with vehicular traffic, a misdemeanor. Dropped were two other misdemeanor counts: fifth-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
Police said Barth, dressed in black and wearing a bandanna around the lower part of his face, squirted the pedal pub operator in the face as she tried to take a photograph of him and his marauding cohorts.
Upon entering his plea, Barth was sentenced to pay $128 in fines and fees, given a stayed 45-day jail sentence and ordered to pay $300 in restitution to the proprietor, PedalPub Twin Cities. Barth is challenging the restitution.
"We are pleased with the result in this case," City Attorney Susan Segal said. "I want to remind people that what might seem to some like an amusing stunt interfered with the operation of a vehicle on busy downtown streets and created a risk to the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and others."
In mid-August, John D. Rock Jr., 25, of Shakopee, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, was fined $300 and ordered to pay restitution of $395. Rock also was given a stayed 45-day jail sentence.
The six men were accused of throwing water balloons and shooting squirt guns at mobile pub passengers during a series of bicycle attacks in downtown Minneapolis on May 23.
On the third foray, the targeted patrons happened to be off-duty Burnsville police officers, who chased the perpetrators and held them until Minneapolis police arrived.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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