Police Seek Man Accused of Terrorizing Rosemount 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.

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

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 victim 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 victim told police that his sister was sometimes present during the 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 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 victim told police. 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, the victim said.

After letting go of the dog, Laatsch 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.