{"id":72242,"date":"2026-11-07T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T01:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72242"},"modified":"2026-11-07T06:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:40:14","slug":"sebeka-man-accused-of-punching-wadena-er-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/sebeka-man-accused-of-punching-wadena-er-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"Sebeka Man Accused of Punching Wadena ER Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"

WADENA, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Sebeka man faces a gross misdemeanor assault charge after allegedly punching an emergency department employee at Astera Health in Wadena.<\/p>\n

Christopher Gene Stottlemire, 37, of Sebeka<\/strong>, is charged with fourth-degree assault involving a hospital emergency room employee.<\/p>\n

According to a criminal complaint filed in Otter Tail County District Court, the alleged incident occurred August 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

Police Respond to Reported Hospital Assault<\/h2>\n

On August 23, 2026, at approximately 2:55 a.m., Wadena police responded to Astera Health following a reported assault.<\/p>\n

Authorities were informed that the incident had occurred the previous evening, around 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

The complaint identifies Stottlemire as a patient receiving treatment in the hospital’s emergency department.<\/p>\n

A hospital employee reported that Stottlemire became agitated while she was providing medical care.<\/p>\n

Employee Says Patient Punched Her Arm<\/h2>\n

According to court documents, the employee entered Stottlemire’s room to adjust his intravenous (IV) tubing.<\/p>\n

During the interaction, Stottlemire allegedly became agitated.<\/p>\n

The employee told investigators she raised her left arm to protect herself.<\/p>\n

Stottlemire then allegedly struck her left forearm with his right closed fist.<\/p>\n

The employee reported the incident to authorities, prompting a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

The supplied complaint does not describe the extent of any injuries suffered by the employee.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Sebeka man faces a gross misdemeanor assault charge after allegedly punching an emergency department employee at Astera Health in Wadena.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Emergency Room Workers Protected Under Minnesota Law<\/h2>\n

Minnesota law provides specific criminal penalties for physically assaulting healthcare workers in hospital emergency departments.<\/p>\n

These protections apply to physicians, nurses, and other individuals providing emergency department healthcare services.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors charged Stottlemire under Minnesota Statute 609.2231, subdivision 2(a)(2)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The alleged offense is classified as fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

A conviction carries a maximum possible penalty of 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Criminal Case Filed in Otter Tail County<\/h2>\n

The criminal complaint was filed in Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial District under court file number 56-CR-26-2464<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The complaint lists a summons for Stottlemire.<\/p>\n

Although the alleged incident occurred at Astera Health in Wadena, the case was filed in Otter Tail County District Court.<\/p>\n

The supplied complaint does not explain that filing location.<\/p>\n

The charging document lists August 23 as the offense date, while its probable cause statement places the alleged assault on August 22.<\/p>\n

The allegation has not been proven in court. Stottlemire is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.<\/p>\n

Additional court information can be searched through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

A Sebeka man faces a gross misdemeanor assault charge after an emergency room worker reported being punched while adjusting his IV at Astera Health in Wadena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72243,"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":[1135,31436,2548,2098],"trf_mt_town":[29464],"trf_mt_county":[29536],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-assault","tag-christopher-gene-stottlemire","tag-otter-tail-county","tag-wadena"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72242","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=72242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72244,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72242\/revisions\/72244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72242"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72242"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72242"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72242"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}