Man Charged with Assaulting Police After Being Ejected from Toby Keith's

A Maple Plain man has been charged with assaulting a police officer after an altercation with officers outside in St. Louis Park on Feb. 18.

Justin William Mocio Gallagher, 33, is charged with fourth-degree assault of a peace officer, a felony with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $6,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, compiled by St. Louis Park Police Detective Matthew Reilly, police were on patrol at about 1:30 a.m. Feb. 18 when they saw bouncers escorting Gallagher out of the bar.

Gallagher was “extremely uncooperative, belligerent and fighting the bouncers,” according to the complaint.

Police approached Gallagher and asked him to calm down. When he refused to cooperate, officers grabbed him; Gallagher “advised the officers that he didn’t care if they were police,” and continued to struggle, the complaint says.

Gallagher pulled away from the officers, and when they tried to grab him again, Gallagher turned and bit one of the officers in the left bicep, puncturing the skin, according to Reilly’s account.

Gallagher was arrested, but refused to walk to the squad car, continuing to struggle, the complaint says. At that point, Gallagher began to yell racial epithets at the officers, calling one a “sand [expletive]” and a “[expletive] Arab,” according to the complaint.

Gallagher called the second officer a “fat [expletive]” and told him to remove the handcuffs, adding, “I will show you what a [expletive] you are,” the complaint says.

When officers were trying to get Gallagher into the back of the squad car, he grabbed an officer’s hand and scratched him, breaking the skin, according to the complaint.

Gallagher is free on a $20,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for March 14 in Hennepin County District Court.