2 High School Students Charged With Assaulting Classmate

Two men, one from Rosemount and one from Apple Valley, have been charged with assault in connection with an incident in February at a local high school in which the alleged victim’s finger was fractured.

Joshua Phillip Hamilton, 18, of Rosemount, and Richard Gene Arellano, 19, of Apple Valley, each are charged with third-degree assault resulting in substantial bodily harm, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints, were called to the high school, unnamed in the complaint, on Feb. 24 after a student reported that he had been assaulted by two other students.

The student told officers that he had been in the art room when Hamilton and Arellano walked in. Hamilton said, “What’s up, [expletive]?,” and told the victim to meet him after school, according to the complaint.

Hamilton allegedly began punching the student and pushed him to the ground, at which point both Hamilton and Arellano began to punch him in the body and the face, the complaint charges.

A witness confirmed the story, the complaint says, telling police that Hamilton and Arellano had jumped the student.

The student was complaining of significant pain in his left pinkie, and saw a doctor. Police learned that the finger had been fractured in the assault.

Warrants for both men were issued earlier this month, and both were arrested on July 23. Arellano has pleaded not guilty; both are free on their promises to make all future court appearances.

Omnibus hearings are scheduled Oct. 2 for Arellano and Oct. 23 for Hamilton, both in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.