Randall Romeo Caron, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he stabbed a woman and assaulted police officers.

Monday, March 18, 2002

Randall Romeo Caron, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he stabbed a woman and assaulted police officers. The district court will schedule a three-day jury trial for each case.

According to the criminal complaint, Caron stabbed his girlfriend in her apartment on Front Street in Albert Lea Nov. 10 last year. The following day around 7 p.m., when the police spotted Caron and tried to catch him in a wooded area near Railroad Avenue, he was swinging a knife and lunged at an ALPD officer with the knife pointing at him.

One of the officers fired his gun twice when he was cornered. One bullet hit Caron’s chest. He was treated in St. Marys Hospital in Rochester and released five days later.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated the validity of the shooting, and concluded it was an appropriate action.

Two knives were found from the area Caron was shot. The stabbed girlfriend required more than 500 stitches to close the wounds.

Defense attorney Chester Swenson filed a motion to conduct a psychological evaluation on Caron, and the court granted it.