Rochester Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty in Separate Threats Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - One of the two men arrested following a shooting outside a Rochester apartment complex in September has entered a guilty plea in a separate criminal case.

29-year-old Alonzo Darnell Kelly was arrested in late March after Rochester police were dispatched to a local restaurant after receiving a report about a belligerent customer. Court documents indicate a female employee of the business told the officers that she and a drive-thru customer had gotten into a verbal altercation that ended with her refusing him a service.

The employee stated that the customer then parked his vehicle and entered the restaurant holding a baseball bat. According to the criminal complaint, he allegedly threatened the employee by saying, "you must really like your job. I see you walk in and out of your place every day. I'll be waiting for you when you get done with work and you'll get what is coming to you."

The charging document filed in Olmsted County Court says the employee also stated that the customer, later identified as Kelly, was holding the baseball bat in a menacing manner and she feared "imminent physical harm." She indicated that she then sought safety in the rear of the restaurant and called 911.

Kelly was charged with second-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor count of obstructing legal process, and a misdemeanor assault charge. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he admitted to a felony count of threats of violence in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in January.

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Kelly is also facing felony counts of illegal possession of a firearm and/or ammunition and reckless discharge of a firearm in connection with the September shooting in the 800 block of 16th Avenue Southeast in the vicinity of the Homestead Village Apartments complex. Rochester police responded to the area on the evening of September 10 after receiving reports of gunfire between two apartment complexes.

No injuries were reported, but an apartment building and a vehicle were struck by bullets.

Court documents indicate Kelly and another man, 34-year-old Scott Bunch of Rochester, were identified as suspects and were apprehended within hours of the report of the shooting. Bunch was also charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and illegal possession of a firearm.

The criminal cases against both men involving the shooting are still pending.