Public safety news: Teen to plead guilty in assault on Como Park High teacher

A 16-year-old agreed Monday to plead guilty to misdemeanor fifth-degree assault for punching a St. Paul teacher last month. The plea deal calls for the Ramsey County attorney's office to dismiss a third-degree felony assault charge filed in March, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Jill Fedje said. Fedje announced the deal for the March 9 attack on Como Park High School teacher Mark Rawlings. The Star Tribune generally doesn't name juvenile suspects. According to the criminal complaint, the student and a second student, both boys, walked into Rawlings' classroom to assault another student over a marijuana deal. The two refused to leave, and Rawlings tried to escort them out. The first student punched Rawlings in the chin. The second punched him in the right eye. Rawlings struck his head in the fight, lost consciousness briefly, and suffered a mild concussion as well as a cut to the head. The second student is scheduled to go to trial May 13 on one count of felony third-degree assault.

CHAO XIONG

A Minneapolis man cleared in a sex-trafficking case is suing six St. Paul police officers, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights and causing him "irreparable harm." Yassin Yusuf spent about 4½ years in jail because of a case that was thrown out in March when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the lead investigator lied to a grand jury and possibly fabricated evidence. Yusuf is seeking $20 million in damages in the suit, filed Monday in federal court against Sgt. Heather Weyker, Cmdr. John Bandemer, four of Weyker's unnamed supervisors, the department and the city. Yusuf, 26, was 20 when he was arrested in 2010 as part of the sweeping case that indicted 30 individuals. He was convicted at trial for trafficking one woman, but later acquitted by a district judge. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

CHAO XIONG

The body of a young man has been identified by the Ramsey County medical examiner's office, two days after he was found dead in a pond near a Stillwater golf course. Police found Cole Hunter Schilling, 19, floating near a bridge crossing on the Brown Creek Trail at 8:15 a.m. Saturday near Oak Glen Golf Course. They also found a scooter in the weeds nearby. The medical examiner's office ruled that Schilling drowned after he was in a crash on his scooter. Schilling graduated from Stillwater Area High School in 2015 and attended Century College. He had left the school, but said he intended to continue his education. The Stillwater police are continuing to investigate the death, which has been ruled an accident.

Ben Farniok

A Twin Cities motorcyclist zipping along at 83 miles per hour in western Wisconsin caught the attention of a state trooper parked in the median of Interstate 94. On went the squad's flashing lights and sirens, and that's when the rider accelerated his 2006 Yamaha RS racer to 132 mph. The late-night pursuit quickly ended along westbound Interstate 94 about 1 a.m. Monday, when the helmeted rider crashed and was pitched into the heavy brush, according to the St. Croix County Sheriff's Department. The rider, who has not been charged, was being treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul for leg and hip injuries.

paul walsh

A Rochester toddler was hospitalized Sunday after a pit bull bit him and wouldn't let go, police said. The 2-year-old boy was playing in a park Sunday night, throwing rocks in the air, when the dog attacked, said Rochester police Capt. John Sherwin. One witness told police that the dog latched onto the toddler and wouldn't let go for five minutes, despite attempts by three people to free the boy, who suffered extensive injuries to his face and neck. The toddler underwent surgery at St. Marys Hospital. The hospital declined to describe his condition Monday afternoon. The dog and the toddler live in the same household, Sherwin said. The dog was in quarantine as of Monday afternoon at the Rochester Animal Control Shelter.

JENNA ROSS