{"id":72189,"date":"2026-11-07T10:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72189"},"modified":"2026-11-07T05:18:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T11:18:00","slug":"moorhead-bar-shove-leads-to-felony-assault-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/moorhead-bar-shove-leads-to-felony-assault-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Moorhead Bar Shove Leads to Felony Assault Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOORHEAD, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Moorhead woman faces a felony assault charge after allegedly pushing another woman inside a local American Legion.<\/p>\n

The victim suffered two fractures in her arm after falling backward and striking a table, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Abby Jo Melquist, 38, of Moorhead<\/strong>, is charged with third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm.<\/p>\n

The alleged incident occurred October 25, 2026, at the American Legion on 30th Street North in Moorhead.<\/p>\n

Argument at American Legion Turns Violent<\/h2>\n

According to the criminal complaint, Moorhead police responded to Sanford Urgent Care following a reported assault.<\/p>\n

The victim told investigators she had experienced previous disagreements with Melquist at the bar.<\/p>\n

One disagreement reportedly involved someone taking another person’s seat several months earlier.<\/p>\n

On October 25, Melquist allegedly approached the victim and attempted to speak with her.<\/p>\n

The victim said she refused to continue the conversation because she believed Melquist was intoxicated.<\/p>\n

She reportedly told Melquist to leave the disagreement alone.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Melquist then pushed the woman backward with both arms.<\/p>\n

Victim Suffers Broken Arm After Fall<\/h2>\n

The victim told investigators that her head struck the edge of a high-top bar table as she fell.<\/p>\n

Her arm reportedly became caught on something during the fall, twisting backward.<\/p>\n

Medical imaging revealed fractures near the victim’s wrist and farther up her forearm.<\/p>\n

Authorities documented the injuries as part of their investigation into the alleged assault.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Moorhead woman faces a felony assault charge after allegedly pushing another woman inside a local American Legion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Witness Describes Confrontation<\/h2>\n

A witness told police he had been outside the establishment moving a vehicle when someone rushed outside.<\/p>\n

That individual reportedly told him Melquist had broken the victim’s arm.<\/p>\n

When the witness returned inside, Melquist allegedly struck him in the chest with both hands.<\/p>\n

The complaint states that Melquist also directed an angry remark toward the witness about his wife.<\/p>\n

The witness reported that Melquist and the victim had experienced minor disagreements at the establishment before.<\/p>\n

Surveillance Video Reviewed by Police<\/h2>\n

Investigators also spoke with the American Legion manager, who provided surveillance footage of the incident.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, the footage showed the two women speaking before Melquist pushed the victim.<\/p>\n

The video evidence was included in the probable cause statement supporting the felony charge.<\/p>\n

Felony Assault Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Melquist faces one count of third-degree assault involving substantial bodily harm under Minnesota Statute 609.223<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The felony carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

The case is filed in Clay County District Court under case number 14-CR-26-3925<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The allegations have not been proven in court. Melquist is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.<\/p>\n

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

A Moorhead woman faces a felony assault charge after allegedly pushing another woman at the American Legion, leaving her with a broken arm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72190,"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":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[31369,1135,1346],"trf_mt_town":[29431],"trf_mt_county":[29513],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-abby-jo-melquist","tag-assault","tag-moorhead"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72189","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=72189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72191,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72189\/revisions\/72191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72189"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72189"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72189"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72189"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}