Man pleads to assault, burglary charges for separate incidents

WILLMAR — Eric Demond Bryson, 36, of Willmar, pleaded guilty Friday to felony charges of first-degree burglary and third-degree assault for breaking into a residence to assault a person in April and for attempting to stab a man last January.
As part of a plea agreement reached in Kandiyohi County District Court, the burglary charge was reduced to a lower-level felony and second- and fifth-degree assault charges will be dismissed and he will pay restitution. Bryson will be sentenced March 6.
The burglary and fifth-degree assault charges were filed after April 10, when Willmar police were called to a home in the northeast quadrant of the city for a burglary. The caller reported that the suspects had fled on foot and gave the name of one of the men as “Brooklyn.”
The responding officer recognized that nickname as associated with Bryson. The victim reported that Bryson had kicked in the door of the house and assaulted her by pushing her into a wall. She said another man was with Bryson but did not participate in the assault and that the men left after she told them to get out of the house.
The woman and another witness identified Bryson in a photo lineup.
The second- and third-degree assault charges were filed after Jan. 13, 2011, when a man reported to Willmar police that he had been assaulted by Bryson at a Willmar residence. The man had a 2-inch cut on his finger that he had suffered when Bryson attempted to stab him.
The man reported that he had been assaulted by Bryson after the man questioned how Bryson was talking to a woman. He said Bryson raised a knife over his head, grabbed the man by the throat at attempted to stab him. The man suffered a cut on his finger in an attempt to gain control of a knife. He left the home and went to the Rice Memorial Hospital emergency room, where he received eight sutures to close the wound.
Officers went to the home where the assault occurred and found blood on the door and in the interior of the home. Two witnesses there reported that Bryson had attempted to stab the man and that the man left the home.