A 45-year-old Brainerd man faces charges including a felony for allegedly using a metal shovel to bust out a vehicle window and assault a man who confronted him about illegally dumping garbage.
Travis Jeffrey Babineau was charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon — a felony — and fourth-degree intentional damage to property, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from an incident to which the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office responded at 11:09 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, at the intersection of Barrows Avenue and Town Hall Street in Barrows.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Crow Wing County District Court, the victim told sheriff’s deputies he’d followed a truck he believed carried parties responsible for dumping garbage on Thompson Road near his residence. The victim confronted two men, and one of those men — identified as Babineau — allegedly came after the victim with a shovel.
While the victim stood between the driver’s seat and the driver’s side door, Babineau struck the vehicle and shattered the driver’s side window, according to the complaint. He proceeded to strike the vehicle and victim with the shovel, which had a metal square blade and a wooden handle.
The victim told one of the deputies he was struck about six times by the shovel, including to the base of the neck and multiple times on his left arm as he attempted to block the strikes. The deputy observed the victim’s wrist was swollen with a small laceration and a red mark was present on the base of his neck.
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Following the alleged assault, the victim drove down the road to call the sheriff’s office and the assailant went into a nearby residence. The deputy approached the residence just as the other deputy on scene escorted a man matching the victim’s description away from the home. Babineau allegedly admitted to grabbing a shovel out of the back of the truck and hitting the victim’s vehicle and window.
Babineau made his first appearance in court Friday. He was released from Crow Wing County Jail on conditions and is set to appear for an omnibus hearing Feb. 3.
