ROCHESTER — Rochester police say the injuries a toddler sustained at the hands of an intruder are life threatening.

The 2-year-old boy was stabbed in the abdomen by a male suspect about 6 a.m. Thursday. The intruder also stabbed a 26-year-old man who tried to intervene. A second man staying in the apartment received minor wounds during a struggle with the suspect.

Police Capt. Brian Winters says the mother of the toddler and a 4-year-old in the apartment had a prior domestic relationship with the suspect, but he is not the father of the children.

The toddler and the 26-year-old man underwent surgery for their wounds at Saint Marys Hospital. The suspect was treated at the hospital for injuries inflicted by a police dog. He has now been moved to the Olmsted County Jail.

 

Police find possible human bones in Minn. yard dig

CRYSTAL — Authorities have unearthed possible human bones while digging in the backyard of a Crystal home.

Police have been looking for evidence at the home in the suspected death of an infant years ago.

Crystal police said Thursday that the digging unearthed bones that may be human. Those bones, along with any other bones that may be found, will be turned over to the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office.

A man and woman who lived at the home have been arrested and remain in jail. Authorities have until 4 p.m. Friday to charge the pair.

Officers were told of the possible death on Tuesday while they were investigating a domestic assault.

 

New campsite system crashes

ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s new state park campsite online reservation system crashed soon after its launch Thursday and will be down indefinitely as officials try to figure out how to fix it.

The system couldn’t handle an unanticipated flood of traffic when it went live, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris Niskanen said. Officials expected it to take 4,500 reservations in a day, but saw more than 4,500 visits in its first hour, he said. The system took only about 60 reservations before it crashed, he said.

“We apologize,” Niskanen said. “We don’t like our customers being frustrated. We’re disappointed we weren’t able to deliver the sort of system they want and we’re taking responsibility. We just ask for their patience a little longer.”

Niskanen said it will be down indefinitely until the DNR and its vendor, US eDirect, determine how to expand its capacity. People at the vendor are “working their tails off to fix this,” he said. A new call center for phone reservations will also remain closed for now.

The new system was meant to be a big improvement, and allowed campers view pictures of individual campsites before selecting them. The state shut down the old system and stopped taking reservations Dec. 26.

 

Zamboni driver charged with DWI

APPLE VALLEY — A Twin Cities man who allegedly drove a Zamboni at a peewee hockey game while drunk is now charged with DWI.

Thirty-four-year-old Joel Bruss of Apple Valley was charged this week with four counts of driving while impaired.

According to the complaint, Bruss had a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent — four times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Parents at an Apple Valley ice arena called police on Jan. 30 to report that Bruss was driving the ice-resurfacing machine erratically.

According to the complaint, when police arrived at Hayes Ice Arena, Bruss had gotten the Zamboni stuck half-on and half-off the ice.

 

DFL Sen. Kubly hospitalized

ST. PAUL — Sen. Gary Kubly remains hospitalized in St. Paul after suffering what his family describes as cardiac-like symptoms earlier this week.

Kubly’s wife, Pat, says her husband is sedated and in stable condition at Regions Hospital. The family says more could be learned Friday about what caused the senator’s symptoms.

The 68-year-old Kubly was diagnosed about a year ago with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The Lutheran pastor, from Granite Falls, is in his third term.

Kubly became ill at his home on Wednesday.

 

Final gang defendant arrested

MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities say they have arrested the final defendant in their multi-count case against members of the Native Mob gang.

Twenty-three-year-old Eric Lee Bower of White Earth was arrested Thursday without incident in Minneapolis.

He is one of 24 suspected Native Mob members charged in January in a sweeping racketeering indictment that claims the defendants used violence and intimidation to keep the gang in power. Bower was the last defendant to remain at large and will likely make his initial court appearance Friday.

He was arrested by a multi-agency task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Gang experts say the Native Mob is violent, and has influence from the Twin Cities to reservations throughout Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.