{"id":39453,"date":"2026-07-27T07:47:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=39453"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:17:57","slug":"bemidji-man-charged-after-apartment-brawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-after-apartment-brawl\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Charged After Apartment Brawl"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bemidji Man Charged After Apartment Brawl<\/h2>\n

BEMIDJI<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Bemidji man faces three charges after a large apartment fight injured several people.<\/p>\n

Eli Benaise, 35, is charged in Beltrami County District Court. The charges include felony third-degree assault.<\/p>\n

He also faces third-degree riot and misdemeanor fifth-degree assault charges.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from a May 17 incident at the Conifer Apartments in Bemidji.<\/p>\n

Police Respond to Reported Fight<\/h2>\n

According to the criminal complaint, officers responded around 9 p.m. after receiving a report of yelling.<\/p>\n

Police found a woman with blood on her face and arms. She also had a bleeding cut on her lip.<\/p>\n

The woman identified Benaise as the person who allegedly assaulted her.<\/p>\n

Two witnesses told investigators they saw Benaise strike the woman, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Officers later approached an apartment where Benaise was believed to be staying.<\/p>\n

They reported seeing fresh blood near the door and on the handle.<\/p>\n

Police said they heard movement inside. Benaise was arrested after what authorities described as a lengthy standoff.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"EliEli Benaise.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Video Allegedly Shows Repeated Punches<\/h2>\n

Investigators reviewed building surveillance and doorbell video from the apartment complex.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the footage showed several people fighting outside.<\/p>\n

Benaise first appeared to separate two women, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

However, he later allegedly punched and kicked people who were involved in the fight.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges Benaise struck one person while she was on the ground.<\/p>\n

He also allegedly kicked near her head and struck another woman several times.<\/p>\n

Doorbell video later showed Benaise punching two other people, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

At the jail, Benaise admitted throwing punches during the fight, according to court records.<\/p>\n

He reportedly told investigators he was defending his pregnant girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Several Injuries Reported<\/h2>\n

Police photographed bruises, swelling, cuts and other injuries after the fight.<\/p>\n

One person reported suffering a broken nose. Another had bruising and cuts.<\/p>\n

Photos also showed Benaise with a bloody knuckle, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Third-degree assault carries a possible five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota assault laws through the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Information about Minnesota court cases is available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Benaise is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Bemidji man faces felony assault and riot charges after a May apartment brawl that left several people injured, court records say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39454,"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":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_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":[1633,21584,5264,21586,21585,5266,955],"class_list":["post-39453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-assault-charges","tag-bemidji-police","tag-conifer-apartments-fight","tag-eli-benaise","tag-felony-assault","tag-minnesota-crime-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39453","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=39453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39455,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39453\/revisions\/39455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}