Four Blue Earth Area High School students who were football players face felony charges in an alleged assault of a teammate during a house party last month in Winnebago.
On Monday in Faribault County District Court, 18-year-old Wyatt Eugene Tungland of Frost was charged with third-degree assault and aiding and abetting assault.
Dalton Lee Nagel, 18, of Blue Earth was charged with aiding and abetting assault, while 17-year-old Blake Joseph Barnett of Blue Earth and 16-year-old Caden Ochsendorf of Winnebago were charged in juvenile court with third-degree assault and aiding and abetting assault.
Police Chief Eric Olson says investigation of the alleged assault continues and he’s still asking anyone who may have information to come forward.
Olson called the case “very complex” and could eventually involve looking into why it took school district officials three weeks to report the assault.
“The investigation will take us where it leads us. The door is open and isn’t closed,” says Olson. “But, right now I’m dealing with the assault and we need to get that part of the case taken care of first.”
Winnebago police were contacted by Blue Earth Area resource officer DJ Bullerman on Nov. 9 that an assault may have occurred in the city in October.
Court criminal complaints say earlier this month the teen victim told police he was punched and pushed and lost consciousness while at the party on Oct. 19.
The next day Barnett showed the teen a cell phone video, says the complaint, of Barnett and Ochsendorf hitting him.
Ochsendorf reportedly told police he and the other defendants hit the victim, pushed him back down when he tried to get up and struck him again.
A witness says he saw Tungland punching the teen while the other three held him down.
The victim had swelling and bruising on his face, says the complaint, and suffered a concussion.