A 60-year-old Stillwater man, Frank Saice, faces felony charges after allegedly making terroristic threats to a neighbor.
On May 13 at 4:28 p.m. law enforcement was dispatched to the 100 block of Martha Street South in Stillwater on a complaint of a disorderly neighbor. Upon arriving, officers observed two adults, Saice and the complainant, in a front yard near a recreational fire. Officers advised Saice that they received a report from a neighbor that he was being disorderly. Saice became agitated and argumentative with law enforcement, and officers observed that Saice appeared to have been consuming alcohol.
Officers also spoke with the neighbor, who indicated that Saice often yells and uses profanity and inappropriate language, which causes her concern, because a child who lives at the residence with her.
Law enforcement cleared the scene and at 5:02 p.m. were called back to the location by the neighbor, who was reporting that she observed Saice in the street between their homes carrying a large piece of wood. The neighbor stated that Saice was pacing in front of her home, and at one point walked onto her driveway and was yelling, “I’ll kill you. I dare you to call the police. I’ll kill the cops if they show up.”
Law enforcement made contact again with Saice, who was seated in a chair in his front yard. Officers asked Saice if he had any contact with his neighbor since law enforcement left, and Saice denied having any contact with her. Officers asked Saice if he made any type of threatening comments to his neighbor, and Saice responded, “What, like I was going to kill her?”
Saice was placed under arrest and transported to the Washington County Jail.
Inmate charged after argument over sweatshirt
A 52-year-old man has been charged with third-degree assault after an argument over a sweatshirt while he was an inmate at the Stillwater Correctional Facility in Bayport.
According to the criminal complaint, on March 3 the suspect, Charles Bathel, was observed to grab another inmate and start throwing closed fist punches to the inmates’s head. A correctional officer activated the Incident Command System and proceed to where Bathel was located on the second floor gallery. Upon arriving, officers observed the inmate lying on the ground and appearing to bleed from the facial area.
Investigators reviewed the video footage of the altercation and observed Bathel and the inmate exit cell 232 on the second tier. They appeared to be engaged in a verbal argument and pointing fingers at each other while arguing. In the video, the complaint says, Bathel strikes the inmate in the facial area with a closed fist, then attempts to throw the inmate over the tier railing, but the inmate was able to wrap his arms around a post, preventing him from being thrown over. Investigators say Bathel is then observed striking the inmate six more times in the facial area and kicking the inmate in the groin. At no time does the inmate fight back, the complaint says.
The victim was treated for his injuries related to the assault, and an X-ray revealed a fractured nasal bone. The inmate also received a small laceration on the left side of his nose, as well as scrapes and contusions on his neck.
In a Miranda statement, investigators say Bathel admitted to assaulting the inmate. The inmate also provided a statement and indicated that he and Bathel were having a verbal argument over a sweatshirt when Bathel assaulted him.
Bathel is serving 31 years for second degree murder. On March 5 he was committed to the Minnesota Sexual Psychopathic Personality Treatment Center in Moose Lake as a sexually dangerous person.