Crime & Safety

Police Seek Apple Valley Man Accused of Terrorizing Teen

A nationwide warrant has been issued for Christopher David Laatsch, who is charged with stalking, harassing and making terroristic threats against a 15-year-old boy.

A nationwide warrant has been issued for an Apple Valley man accused of repeatedly harassing and terrorizing a 15-year-old Rosemount boy.

Christopher David Laatsch, 22, is charged with one felony count of stalking and harassment, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, and two felony counts of making terroristic threats, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Laatsch also is charged with fifth-degree assault and domestic assault, each misdemeanors with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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According to the complaint, filed in Dakota County District Court in Hastings, Rosemount police received a report in February of repeated assaults lasting several years against a 15-year-old boy.

The boy’s mother told police that Laatsch, a family acquaintance, had physically assaulted her son on a number of occasions, the last time on Feb. 13, the complaint says.

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The complaint says the boy told police that the assaults began about two years ago, when he and Laatsch were watching a movie in the boy’s home. He said Laatsch told him to go upstairs; when the boy refused, Laatsch put him in a choke hold, making it difficult for him to breathe, the boy allegedly told police.

Laatsch then dragged the boy up the stairs and put him in another choke hold, according to the complaint, and the boy lost consciousness.

Shortly after that incident, the complaint says, Laatsch shaved the victim’s head against his will, and when the boy tried to get out of his chair, Laatsch threw him back down and said, “You move, I’ll choke you.”

About a year later, the boy told police, Laatsch punched him hard in the back when he didn’t do what Laatsch told him to do. Laatsch frequently put the boy in painful wrestling holds and often threatened to kill him, according to the complaint.

The boy told police that his sister was sometimes present during the alleged assaults, but didn’t help him. The sister has refused to speak to police about the incidents, according to the complaint.

The boy also told police about an incident in which Laatsch allegedly took a knife out of a knife block, pointed it at the boy and his sister and said, “I hate you. I’m going to kill you.”

In another February incident, the victim’s mother, his sister and his sister’s newborn baby were watching a movie when the dog urinated on the rug, the boy told police. The complaint says the boy told police that when the dog started to run upstairs, Laatsch grabbed it by the collar, choked it, dragged it back to the soiled area of the rug, punched the animal hard three times, pushed it into the ground and hit it again.

After letting go of the dog, Laatsch allegedly sat down beside the victim’s sister and the baby and elbowed his sister hard, causing the baby’s head to bobble back and forth, according to the complaint.


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