Incarcerated Man Assaulted at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights

Oak Park Heights, MN: The Minnesota Department of Corrections is investigating an inmate-on-inmate assault at the MCF-Oak Park Heights prison that resulted in potentially life-threatening injuries to the victim.

At 12:05 PM on Friday, November 8, 2019, Minnesota DOC corrections officers responded to assist canteen staff following an assault. When responding staff arrived, they found a 59 year-old incarcerated man unresponsive and bleeding from his head.

Additional DOC staff, including medical personnel, were dispatched to assist the victim and calm the situation. The victim was transported by ambulance to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

The suspect in the assault is a 22-year-old incarcerated man who was secured without incident and is currently being held in administrative segregation pending the outcome of the investigation. The preliminary investigation indicates the suspect punched the victim who hit his head while falling. It has also been determined that the suspect kicked the victim about the head and face several times after he was down. The motive for the assault is not known and remains the focus of investigators.

“While we make every effort to ensure a safe environment for both staff and those in our care, custody, and control, incidents such as this can start and end in a matter of seconds and have grave consequences,” said Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell. “Our concern at the moment is the victim, his family, and our staff impacted by this incident.”

MCF-Oak Park Heights is a maximum security prison housing up to 473 inmates. The facility contains a medical infirmary designed to handle 24-hour care for all adult males in need of services, and a mental health unit designed to assist all adult male inmates who have severe mental health needs. Those incarcerated at Oak Park Heights participate in highly structured programming including industry, education, and mentorship programming. Oak Park Heights is the site of the canteen service operated by MINNCOR Industries that serves all DOC facilities.