Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) – A stabbing at a southwest Rochester home in 2023 has resulted in a prison sentence for a Mower County man.
According to the criminal complaint, Rochester police were sent to St. Marys Hospital on December 7, 2023, after receiving a report that a juvenile male had been stabbed. The court document says the victim identified 25-year-old Benjamin Randel Pater as the assailant.
It also states that Pater later surrendered to law enforcement and turned over the knife used in the stabbing.
Rochester Stabbing Case Ends in Prison Sentence
The complaint says the victim told police he had been exchanging text messages with Pater and others on the evening of the incident before Pater and three other people came to his home and a fight broke out. The victim reported that he had Pater in a headlock when he was stabbed.
The juvenile victim was stabbed in the leg and neck, resulting in serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Friends Expected Fistfight, Not Knife Attack
The charging document says the three people who accompanied Pater to the residence witnessed the fight and saw Pater stab the victim. They also told police they believed there was only going to be a fistfight and came to the aid of the juvenile after he was stabbed.
Pater, who is from Waltham, earlier entered a guilty plea to a charge of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced today to 18 months in prison with credit for one day served in jail.
More Minnesota News:
Authorities ID Man Connected to Southeast MN School Lockdowns
Winona Area Woman Pleads Guilty in $2M Medical Fraud Scheme
Rochester School’s Appeal of Mental Health Grant Cut Denied