Matthew D. Smith

NEW ULM — A Brown County District Court jury deliberated for an hour Friday before finding a 32-year-old St. Paul man guilty of two felony counts of theft and a gross misdemeanor 5th-degree assault charge Friday.

Sentencing for Matthew D. Smith, currently incarcerated at Oak Park Heights correctional facility, was set for 9 a.m., Monday, March 15.

According to court documents, Smith was arrested Sept. 23, 2020 in connection with an assault and vehicle theft in New Ulm the previous night.

A citizen called Blue Earth County Dispatch to report a person walking barefoot on U.S. Highway 169 just south of Amboy. It was the same area a stolen Ford SUV was recovered the night before.

Blue Earth County authorities arrived and identified the male as Smith, as his description matched earlier reports, and took him into custody.

The previous night, New Ulm Police and Brown County deputies responded to McDonald’s on South Broadway at 9:01 p.m. after Scott W. Hoffman of Mankato reported a man walked up to his vehicle window and punched him in the face in the drive-through line, then ran away.

Hoffman described the suspect as a white male wearing a grey sweatshirt with a blue hood and dark running pants. Hoffman said the man had gotten out of a Dodge Intrepid driven by a female in the other drive-through lane.

Hoffman said the attack was unprovoked. Photographs taken of Hoffman’s left cheek showed blood running down his cheek and he appeared to have a small cut poked through his cheek into his mouth. The injury required four stitches to his face at New Ulm Medical Center.

At 9:14 p.m., police were called several blocks north of McDonald’s to Kwik Trip, to a report that a white, 2014 Ford Explorer, a retired squad vehicle, had been stolen. An officer and Brown County Sheriff’s Office deputy reported seeing the vehicle traveling south on Broadway. The SUV owner said a handgun was in the vehicle’s glove box.

At 9:27 p.m., Lake Crystal Police reported seeing the stolen vehicle traveling east on TH 60 at 113 mph. A chase ensued. Officers lost sight of the vehicle and discontinued the chase.

A few minutes later, the Minnesota State Patrol reported the suspect vehicle southbound on U.S. Highway 169 and CR 9, traveling at more than 100 mph. By the time the trooper turned around, the SUV was gone.

At 9:43 p.m, a concerned citizen called Blue Earth County dispatch and reported a vehicle appeared to stop at Casey’s but did not refuel and left, heading south on Highway 169.

Area agencies were notified and at about 11:45 p.m., the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office found an unoccupied SUV on Highway 169 near the Faribault County line. The vehicle’s glove compartment was open and the gun was missing. An expended bullet casing was lying on the driver’s side floor.

Officers set up a perimeter of the area and began searching with a UAV drone, Minnesota State Patrol airplane, K9 Units form Faribault County and Fairmont Police plus officers and deputies from the Blue Earth, Faribault and Martin County Sheriff’s Offices, Lake Crystal, Mapleton, Winnebago and Mankato Police, plus the Minnesota State Patrol.

Smith was originally charged with 3rd and 5th-degree assault. Brown County District Court Judge Robert Docherty dismissed the 3rd-degree assault charge earlier Friday. The theft counts involve stealing a motor vehicle and handgun.

Public Defender John Yost said reasonable doubts existed, that Hoffman didn’t positively identify Smith, and that the case was based on proximity.

“Don’t be fooled. Mr. Hoffman did identify Mr. Smith with his hair. Proximity matters. It absolutely helps collaborate what witnesses said. Mr. Smith committed these crimes. There is no reasonable doubt about it,” said Assistant Brown County Attorney Andrea Lieser.

A state’s witness List included more than 20 people, including police and sheriff’s office personnel.

Lieser said the jury trial was the first in Brown County since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.

“We did it despite dealing with COVID-19 and a blizzard on top of that, thanks to the good coordination work of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and Brown County Court Administration,” said Lieser.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nu

journal.com).