Man fired shotgun at Stearns County deputies during standoff, charges say

A 58-year-old Paynesville man faces felony charges after firing shotgun rounds toward officers during an hourslong standoff at his home.

A pellet from one of the shells struck a deputy’s safety glasses.

Nicholas J. Kaufenberg was charged Wednesday in Stearns County District Court with six felony counts of first-degree assault on a peace officer and two misdemeanor counts of domestic assault.

According to a criminal complaint, Stearns County deputies were called to a report of a domestic assault at a house on the 25000 block of County Road 34 in Paynesville Township just after 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

A woman told officers that Kaufenberg started yelling at her and she was afraid he would shoot and kill her, based on prior abuse and threats, documents state. She shoved him and got out before police arrived.

Deputies knocked on the door and talked to Kaufenberg on the phone but he refused to leave the home. He told officers “he had firearms in the house and if they came into his house it would go bad for them,” the documents state.

The Stearns/Benton SWAT Team arrived in the afternoon. At about 7:30 p.m., deputies fired chemical projectiles through the window of a room where Kaufenberg was believed to be barricaded; as officers attempted to enter, Kaufenberg fired several rounds from a shotgun, documents state.

The safety glasses worn by a deputy in the armored vehicle’s turret were damaged by a shotgun pellet, documents state. No officers returned fire and no one was injured.

Kaufenberg left the house soon after and was arrested. Officers found several loaded firearms in the house, documents state.

Kaufenberg’s next court date is March 17.