No further charges expected from rock throwing at parade

Published 9:33 am Thursday, July 17, 2008

Assistant Freeborn County Attorney Erin O’Brien said Wednesday she does not foresee any additional charges being filed in the case involving teenage boys throwing rocks at a sign in the Third of July Parade and hitting a woman in the chin.

O’Brien said after she reviewed the report of the incident given by the Albert Lea Police Department, she supports the officer’s recommendation — one boy was cited with disorderly conduct.

The incident occurred after an entry by the Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction drove through the parade with a sign that read “Illegal immigrants cost jobs, hospitals and courts.”

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The rocks were beamed at the sign when it was up near the North Broadway Avenue parking lot.

Five teenage boys were taken to the Law Enforcement Center at the Freeborn County Government Center, and one was cited with disorderly conduct. They were released to their parents.

O’Brien said the one boy was cited with disorderly conduct because that is what authorities have probable cause to charge. There is not that probable cause for additional charges.

She said she knows there were several people involved in the incident, but it’s hard to tell who did what. The one person authorities are sure about is the juvenile who was cited.

The husband of the 62-year-old woman who was injured by the rock said the rock hit his wife’s chin, ricocheted off and struck her collarbone.

The rock, said to be a chunk of concrete, hit her so hard it broke in two, he said.

The rock didn’t sail down on a lofty arch; it came straight at his wife, he said.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Albert Lea Medical Center, where she was treated and released. Almost a week after the incident, her husband said she had several loose teeth, major bruising and a scar on her chin.

Debate still continues as to whether the sign with the Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction should be allowed in next year’s parade. That will be up to the Third of July Parade committee, which probably won’t need to make a determination until applications arrive next year.