Rosemount Man Charged with Assaulting Man in Park

A Rosemount man has been charged with assault and making terroristic threats after police say he waved a hunting knife at a man in a Rosemount park with his 5-year-old son last week.

Malik Alan Butler-Martinez, 23, is being held in the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on a $30,000 bond. Both charges against him are felonies; the second-degree assault charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine, and the terroristic threats charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint against Butler-Martinez, the victim told police that he was in Twin Puddles Park Thursday with his son, who was riding his bike. When he heard the sound of screeching tires, the man – who couldn’t see his son and thought he might have been hit – ran in the direction of the sound.

When the man was within 20 to 30 feet of the car that had made the sound, he realized his son was all right, and saw the car’s driver emerge. The driver, later identified as Butler-Martinez, walked to the front of the car and waved a knife at the victim, who grabbed his son and told Butler-Martinez that he was going to call police, according to the complaint.

The victim recorded the license number, and police located the car parked in front of a house about two blocks away, with two women sitting inside. Officers questioned them about the knife, and they said they knew nothing about it.

Butler-Martinez then came out of the house and told the officer that he wanted to speak to him. He said he’d been at the park for about 30 seconds when a man ran up to his car, yelling something in Russian.

According to the complaint, Butler-Martinez told police that he got out of his car, pulled out his “pocket knife” and held it up. The knife – a hunting knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade – was later found in Butler-Martinez’ home.

Butler-Martinez admitted that he had slammed on his brakes in the gravel parking lot to avoid hitting a child on a bicycle, according to the complaint.

Police interviewed the two women in the car again, and one said she saw Butler-Martinez grab his knife, get out of the car and confront the victim, holding the knife in his hand. The other one said she saw Butler-Martinez grab the knife and warn the victim not to “come at him.”

An omnibus hearing in Butler-Martinez’ case is scheduled for June 13 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.