Princeton gas station worker assaulted by Anoka man

A Princeton gas station employee was assaulted while at work on Sunday, June 9.

Bryan Michael Spies, 18, from Anoka, was charged with punching the worker multiple times following a past argument related to the significant others of both parties.

Princeton Police Department Officer Nicole Josephes was dispatched to the scene at the Princeton One Stop Gas Station after receiving a report of a recent assault, the criminal complaint with the Mille Lacs County Court states.

The victim, not identified in the criminal report, stated that he had been in an argument with the assailant about their “girlfriends” and that his tooth was knocked out, the report states.

When Officer Josephes arrived at the scene, she learned that the victim was an employee of the gas station. The employee stated that he was walking back to the main building from the car wash area when he noticed two males in a Chevrolet pickup truck near one of the gas pumps, the report states.

The employee immediately recognized one of the men near the truck and identified him as Spies, the report states. The employee then reported that Spies was wearing a ski mask but Spies was still recognizable.

The employee reported that he, his girlfriend, Spies, Spies’ girlfriend, the other individual in the pickup truck, and that individual’s girlfriend had all been involved in a previous separate altercation in the Princeton Walmart parking lot, the report states. The argument then continued onto social media, where all parties involved exchanged profanities and insults.

However, the employee stated in the criminal report that he believed the argument to be “in the past” and he did not expect Spies to harbor a grudge.

When Spies and the other individual in the pickup truck spotted the employee, the employee stated that they got out of the truck to confront him. According to the criminal report, Spies punched the employee several times in the face, and once in the body. One of the punches knocked out the employee’s front tooth.

Josephes also reported that the employee had a broken front tooth and found blood on the concrete near the employee, the report states.

According to the criminal report, Josephes contacted Spies and the other individual in the vehicle and the pair agreed to go to the Princeton Police Department to provide further information. Spies acknowledged being at the gas station and confronting the employee, the report states. Spies also said the employee had asked him why Spies “could not leave things in the past” to which Spies replied, “Because I can’t,” before proceeding to punch the employee several times.

According to the criminal report, Spies stated that he had been “beating on” the employee until the employee could “barely walk,” and that he had punched the employee at least 20 times, mostly in the face.

Spies also stated that he had been wearing a type of ski mask during the incident, the report states.

In the criminal report, Josephes noted that Spies had blood stains on his clothing when he provided his statement, and she arrested Spies for the assault.

According to the report, the other individual provided a statement and indicated that he witnessed Spies punching the employee but denied further involvement.

Spies was charged with one count of assault in the third degree for causing substantial bodily harm, a felony level charge with a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Spies is scheduled for an omnibus hearing on Sept. 3.