Rochester Man on Probation For Assault Pleads Guilty to felony

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has admitted to a felony charge for an incident last year that occurred while he was on probation for a felony assault conviction.

20-year-old Solomon Ojulo Obang was arrested last October after Rochester police were contacted by a woman who reported that he had come into her place of employment with a gun in his backpack. The criminal complaint also indicates that another witness told police that Obang had been involved in an altercation the previous night and brandished a knife, while the other man involved in the confrontation had discharged a firearm.

Report of Gun in Backpack

The court document says an officer responding to the call from the woman at the business spotted Obang nearby and that Obang took off running. The officer caught up with him on a nearby bike path and reported finding a 9mm bullet inside a satchel he was carrying.

Fled from Custody

According to the criminal complaint, Obang was taken to the hospital due to concerns that he had ingested controlled substances. It also states that when he was discharged from the hospital the following day, and before he could be brought to the Olmsted County Jail, Obang ran away while still wearing a blue hospital gown.

Plea Deal

He was charged with illegal possession of ammunition or a firearm, a felony count of escape from custody, and misdemeanor fleeing police. Obang recently entered into a plea agreement and admitted to the illegal possession charge in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges.

He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Incident at Local High School

Court records also show that the day before he was sentenced in the earlier felony assault case, Obang was charged with gross misdemeanor third-degree riot and fifth-degree assault in a case involving a fight in the parking lot of a Rochester public high school in late April of last year. The charges in that case alleged that Obang was recorded on a cell phone video striking the victim on the head.

Read More: Rochester Teen, Convicted of Felony Assault, Facing New Charges

His felony assault conviction stemmed from an attack on a man at a Rochester business in September 2024. A surveillance video of the attack shows Obang kicking the victim in the head in a “stomping-like motion”, which sent the victim to the hospital to be treated for a brain bleed.

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