Amateur Owatonna MMA Fighter Arrested On Assault Charges
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – An Owatonna amateur MMA fighter is facing charges after hitting the mother of his child several times Sunday morning, according to Dakota County officials.
Richard Robert Rodriguez, 26, has been charged with one count of 3rd-degree assault and one count of domestic assault.
According to the Dakota County Attorney's Office, just after 6 a.m. Eagan police officers responded to a call of an assault at an Eagan gas station.
Upon arrival, police met the victim who told them the father of her child, later identified as Rodriguez, had hit her during an argument.
The victim told police she and Rodriguez had been out the night before and he was driving her back to her hotel room.
On the drive home, the two got into an argument. She said he admitted to sleeping with one of her friends. She became angry and hit Rodriguez in the face. He then began punching her multiple times in the face and neck.
Police said the victim escaped the car and ran to the gas station, where she called police. Rodriguez took off in her car.
According to the Dakota County Attorney's Office, police located the car traveling northbound on Pilot Knob.
Police followed the car into the lot of a nearby hotel and arrested Rodriguez. When police told him he was being arrested for assault, he said "Good, that…b**** deserved it."
The victim told police Riodriguez is a professional fighter. He has a previous record of violence. He was convicted of domestic assault in March 2016 and a misdemeanor assault in August 2013.
If found guilty, Rodriguez could face up to five years in prison, $10,000 in fines or both for each count.