St. Cloud police arrested a 48-year-old Minneapolis man Friday afternoon after officers say he choked a woman and attacked her child with a knife inside a Days Inn hotel room, then headbutted and spat on officers while being taken into custody. Larry Gilbert now faces felony domestic assault, felony assault of a peace officer, felony threats of violence, and two gross misdemeanors stemming from the encounter.
Officers were called to the Days Inn hotel at around 1:40 p.m. Friday, according to WJON, which first reported details from the criminal complaint. When police arrived, they found a child with red marks on his neck and a fresh, bleeding cut on his arm. The Days Inn sits at 70 South 37th Avenue near Division Street, an 87-room, two-story hotel along one of St. Cloud's main commercial corridors, according to a LoopNet property listing.
The child told police that his uncle, later identified as Gilbert, was on top of his mother with a hand on her throat, choking her, while holding a knife in his other hand. The boy said he tried to pull his uncle off his mother, and court records allege that Gilbert then went after the child with the knife and threatened to kill him. An adult sister in the family corroborated the child's account to officers, the outlet reported.
Family Had Been Living in the Room for Weeks
The same sister told responding officers that the family had been living together in the hotel room for more than a month before the attack, per the complaint cited by the station.
The criminal complaint was filed in Stearns County District Court, where felony domestic violence cases are handled through a specialized Domestic Violence Partnership and a dedicated Domestic Violence Court run by the Stearns County Attorney's Office, aimed at victim safety and offender accountability. St. Cloud is also home to Anna Marie's Alliance, a nonprofit founded in 1979 that provides emergency shelter, transitional housing, and on-scene advocates who assist police during domestic emergency calls, according to Minnesota.gov.
Suspect Allegedly Fought Officers During Arrest
According to the complaint, Gilbert refused to walk with officers during detention and kicked at them while declaring he was not going to jail. Police allege he then headbutted one officer in the face and spat into another officer's face during the struggle.
That alleged conduct forms the basis for the two gross misdemeanor counts, separate from the felony domestic assault, felony assault of a peace officer, and felony threats of violence charges Gilbert also faces. Under Minnesota Statute § 609.2231, assaulting a peace officer is elevated to a felony carrying up to three years in prison and a $6,000 fine when the assault causes demonstrable bodily harm or involves intentionally transferring bodily fluids, such as spitting, onto an officer, according to the Minnesota Revisor's Office.
Minnesota's threats-of-violence statute, formerly known as terroristic threats, carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine when someone threatens to commit a violent crime with the purpose of terrorizing another person, per Arneson & Geffen PLLC. Domestic assault charges in Minnesota can likewise be enhanced to a felony carrying up to five years in prison if a defendant has two or more prior qualified domestic violence convictions within the past decade, according to the Wolfgram Law Firm.
Latest in a String of Violent Calls for St. Cloud Officers
The hotel incident adds to a run of serious violent crime calls St. Cloud police have handled in recent weeks. In late September, officers responded to a separate group assault on 15th Street South in which a teenager was attacked and a woman who tried to intervene was struck with a bat, as previously reported by Hoodline. In July, Stearns County District Court held a trial for Kyeon Hill, 47, who was charged with first-degree assault after allegedly stabbing a responding officer during a domestic call in St. Cloud, a case Hoodline also covered at the time.
It remains unclear whether Gilbert has prior domestic violence convictions that could trigger further sentencing enhancements, and the current medical condition of the injured child and his mother has not been detailed in available court records. The case is being prosecuted in Stearns County District Court.
