A Sawyer man has been arrested on charges of third-degree assault following a fight at a home in Cloquet.
George Robert Laprairie, 20, was arrested Thursday, Sept. 24, and accused of assaulting an individual with three other people at a party in the victim’s Cloquet home.
According to the criminal complaint, members of the Fond du Lac and Cloquet police departments found the victim with serious injuries to their face, “which was covered in bruising and blood.”
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The victim identified four people, including George Laprairie, Simon Michael Laprairie, Marcus Alan Ojibway and Jason Lee Fineday and told police the group assaulted them for 5 to 10 minutes.
Law enforcement talked to a number of witnesses at the party, one of whom told police Laprairie and the other individuals were at the party prior to the assault. The witness said they left before the attack and returned to find the victim.
Law enforcement apprehended Simon LaPrairie who admitted to striking the victim and said Fineday had also engaged in a fight with the victim.
Ojibway was also apprehended and admitted to being at the party with Simon Laprairie, George Laprairie and Fineday.
After an examination at a local hospital, the victim was diagnosed with a broken orbital socket and a broken nose, the complaint said.
All four were charged with third-degree assault, but George Laprairie was already on probation after being convicted of third degree assault in September 2019. Laprairie was involved in a fight where a man was stabbed at Cloquet High School Aug. 31, 2019.
He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, but the sentence was stayed in lieu of three years probation. The 2019 sentence was amended Friday, Sept. 25, by Judge Robert McCauley as a result of the probation violation.
Laprairie will serve 60 days in jail, but may be released early if he enters a treatment program.
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Laprairie is next scheduled to appear in court Nov. 23.
If convicted, Laprairie could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $10,0000 fine or both.
