Victim needed 9 staples in head, say assault charges

A Mankato man has been charged in an assault that left the victim with multiple staples in his head.

John Paul Swart, 41, was charged Wednesday with felony 3rd-degree assault in Brown County Court.

A criminal complaint says a woman called the victim from the hospital and asked him to get her keys from her Sleepy Eye apartment, which was upstairs from the victim’s apartment.

Swart answered the door and allowed the victim inside to get the keys, but the victim told police Swart’s behavior then turned “standoffish” and “belligerent.”

The victim told police he pleaded with Swart to calm down as he backed away, but Swart eventually struck the victim on the head with an object.

The victim grabbed the keys and fled to his apartment, where he called 911. He was transported to Sleepy Eye Medical Center for treatment.

Police described the victim’s injuries as “a large gash on the top of his head” with “a large amount of blood on this face, neck, and shoulders.”  The complaint says the cut was several inches in length and was actively bleeding.  Police say the victim is balding and his wound was in an area that will not be covered by hair when it heals.

Swart told police the victim showed up at the apartment demanding the keys.  He claimed the victim had swung at him, kicked in the door, and tried to push him down the stairs.

Police say there was no damage to the door.  Officers noticed a small, broken lamp on the floor just outside the apartment.  They asked Swart if he had used the lamp to hit the victim, but Swart said he didn’t know.

Police say Swart was transported to the Brown County Evaluation Center after a preliminary breath test put his blood-alcohol level at .21.

The complaint says nine staples were required to close the victim’s head wound.

Swart also faces a misdemeanor 5th-degree assault charge.