Information Release: Incident at the Olmsted County Fair
On July 28th, 2021, at approximately 9:30 PM, two Olmsted County Sheriff Deputies, assigned to foot patrol duties at the Olmsted County Fair, were approached by a fairgoer and informed of a disorderly, juvenile female in the Midway area of the fairgrounds. The deputies were informed that the disorderly female was allegedly kicking over garbage cans, using loud profane language, causing people to be in fear, alarmed, and offended by her behavior.
The deputies located the suspect, who is 15 years old and a Rochester resident, immediately became verbally confrontational with the deputies when they approached her. The deputies informed the suspect she needed to leave the fairgrounds and not return due to her behavior. The suspect began to leave the area, but ultimately refused to leave and refused to follow the lawful, verbal instructions of the deputies, leaving the deputies with no other option but to arrest the suspect for disorderly conduct and obstruction of the legal process.
When the deputies attempted to take the suspect into custody, she immediately and allegedly, began to fight with the deputies, spit on the deputies, and kick the deputies.
At the same time, a large group of juveniles came to the arrest location and began to interfere with the arrest process. Additional Olmsted County Deputies arrived at the arrest location to provide security and hopefully deescalate the situation. The group was approximated to be around 40 to 50 juveniles. While the group of juveniles was present and creating additional disturbances, some of those in the crowd spit on several of our deputies, in addition to kicking at them.
The deputies were able to remove the suspect from the arrest location and disperse the crowd after several minutes. The suspect was taken to a secure location where she was turned over to her parents. It should be clearly noted that the parents of the suspect were very cooperative with the deputies when they regained custody of the suspect. Normally, an arrest of this nature would require the suspect to be placed in a secure, detention facility, but Olmsted County does not have that option after the closure of the juvenile detention center.
The suspect could face charges that include felony assault, gross misdemeanor obstruction of the legal process, misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and misdemeanor trespassing.
Additional investigation will continue by the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office in an attempt to identify the additional suspect(s) that spit on our deputies. If/when the additional suspect(s) are identified, the appropriate criminal charges may be filed at that time.
At this time, no deputies are reporting any injuries, however, with the transfer of bodily fluids from one person to another, illness could possibly be passed through the saliva and take time to show symptoms.
Finally, the Olmsted County Fair is still a very safe event for all people to attend. Please do not let one incident interfere with your opportunity to have some fun.