{"id":15428,"date":"2026-01-31T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=15428"},"modified":"2026-01-30T08:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:48:40","slug":"backus-man-charged-after-heater-fight-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/backus-man-charged-after-heater-fight-assault\/","title":{"rendered":"Backus Man Charged After Heater Fight Assault"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cass County<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) Joshua Timothy Rumley<\/strong>, 34, of Backus, is charged with felony domestic assault.<\/p>\n

The charge is filed under Minn. Stat. 609.2242<\/a>, subdivision 4.<\/p>\n

A criminal complaint describes an early-morning fight inside a Backus home.<\/p>\n

What Happened<\/h2>\n

Deputies were dispatched at about 2:43 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.<\/p>\n

The call reported an assault at the residence, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Rumley met a deputy outside and said he had been assaulted.<\/p>\n

The complaint says he had a cut under one eye.<\/p>\n

Rumley also admitted he drank alcohol earlier that night, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Inside the home, deputies found a household member identified as Victim 1 in court records.<\/p>\n

The complaint describes heavy swelling and bruising around both eyes.<\/p>\n

The victim also had swelling to both cheeks, according to the statement.<\/p>\n

The victim told deputies the argument started over a space heater.<\/p>\n

The victim also reported a dispute about cigarettes.<\/p>\n

She said she moved the heater and destroyed Rumley\u2019s cigarettes.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Rumley then tackled her to the floor.<\/p>\n

The victim\u2019s head struck a hard surface during the struggle, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Rumley later admitted he put the victim on the ground, according to investigators.<\/p>\n

He also claimed he was bitten during the altercation, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

\"Joshua
Joshua Timothy Rumley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Charges and Record<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors say Rumley has two prior qualifying convictions.<\/p>\n

The complaint lists a domestic assault conviction in 2022.<\/p>\n

It also lists a gross misdemeanor assault conviction from December 2024.<\/p>\n

Under Minnesota law, repeat offenses can raise the charge to a felony.<\/p>\n

Bail and Conditions<\/h2>\n

Judge Christopher J. Strandlie set bail at $2,500 cash with conditions.<\/p>\n

The judge set alternative bail at $25,000 with conditions.<\/p>\n

The judge also set $50,000 without conditions, according to court records.<\/p>\n

The court ordered Rumley to have no contact with the victim.<\/p>\n

The court also ordered him to remain law-abiding while the case is pending.<\/p>\n

Court records show the case was filed on Jan. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

Public Records and Help<\/h2>\n

This case contains allegations.<\/p>\n

A defendant is presumed innocent in court.<\/p>\n

The allegations must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.<\/p>\n

People can track public case updates through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More information about local law enforcement is available through the Cass County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support resources are available through Minnesota Day One<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cass County (trfnews.i234.me) Joshua Timothy Rumley, 34, of Backus, is charged with felony domestic assault. The charge is filed under Minn. Stat. 609.2242, subdivision 4. A criminal complaint describes an early-morning fight inside a Backus home. What Happened Deputies were dispatched at about 2:43 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. The call reported an assault… Continue reading Backus Man Charged After Heater Fight Assault<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[346,1135,11892,11677,8840,756,770,5368,772,1112,264,11891,11678,151,5696,8869,11679],"class_list":["post-15428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-after","tag-assault","tag-backus","tag-backus-mn","tag-bail-set","tag-cass-county","tag-charged","tag-court-records","tag-crime","tag-felony-domestic-assault","tag-fight","tag-heater","tag-joshua-timothy-rumley","tag-man","tag-minnesota-statute-609-2242","tag-no-contact-order","tag-space-heater-dispute","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15433,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15428\/revisions\/15433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}