'Take me to jail,’ says suspect in beating at Hastings vets home

One resident stomped another into unconsciousness in a state-operated home for military veterans in Hastings, then sat down near his bleeding and battered victim before admitting to police what he had done, according to charges.

Randy Sears, 44, is charged with first-degree assault for "repeatedly stomping" on his victim's head Monday morning, leaving him with several skull fractures and "bleeding throughout the brain," said the criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Dakota County District Court.

The victim, identified in court papers only as R.J., "continues to be unconscious and on life support" at an undisclosed hospital. The man, in his 50s, was comatose and in critical condition Thursday afternoon but still has a chance to survive, said Hastings Police Lt. Jim Rgnonti.

According to the complaint, Sears told police that he assaulted the man. "You want to talk to me; I did it," Sears, sitting about 10 yards from his victim, told police.

When an officer approached Sears and questioned him, he confirmed his initial comment: "I did it ... you might as well handcuff me and take me to jail," according to the complaint.

Sears declined to say any more to officers, and the criminal complaint did not reveal a motive for the attack, which occurred about 7 a.m. on the third floor of the 200-bed facility.

Sears remains jailed on $400,000 bail. His next court appearance is Aug. 18.

Sears' father, Ronald Sears of Chicago, said his son served in the Marines and Army from 1983 to about 1990, when he returned home to Chicago to work for a trucking company.

Years later, worsening pain from a military-related back injury led him to treatment at the Minnesota facility, where Randy Sears was told he would receive the surgery he needed.

The elder Sears said his son arrived in Minnesota about a year ago. He described him as "a sympathetic type" who enjoyed helping people. "Whatever happened," the father said, "I don't believe it was initiated by him."

He said the man described in the criminal complaint is a far cry from the son he knows. "I've been trying to come up with something, anything that would give me some idea what's going on here," he said.

A witness told police that he saw Sears repeatedly stomping the victim's head, and appeared "completely focused" to the point that he didn't even notice the witness walking down the hall. The witness added that he believed it was Sears' "full intention ... to kill R.J.," the complaint said.

The father said he first heard of the attack from a social worker at the home, who told him that no one seemed to know what provoked the assault. He has yet to be able to speak with his son.

"I want to come up there," he said, "but there's no point if I can't see him or whatever. Then I'm just stuck."

The state Department of Veterans Affairs oversees the Hastings facility, which sits on 128 wooded acres next to the Vermillion River. Other homes are in Fergus Falls, Luverne, Minneapolis and Silver Bay.

The Hastings home is known as a domiciliary facility, meaning patients are free to come and go. Its residents include veterans being treated for substance abuse or mental health problems, said department spokeswoman Anna Long.

This is the "first time anything of this magnitude has happened" at the Hastings home, she said.

The home has taken steps in the wake of the attack, Long said, including bringing the residents together today to encourage them to "be vigilant and be aware ... report anything" suspicious. Also, the state VA will conduct its own investigation in coordination with law enforcement, she said.

There is no surveillance video of the attack, Long said. The home has security staff on-site.

Rgnonti said there have been about 360 calls for service to the home in the past five years. Those calls included 22 for intoxication, nine for disturbances, three for assaults and one for a fight, he said.

In his 22 years on the Hastings force, Rgnonti said he has never heard of an incident this serious at the home. "This is real unusual out there," he said.

Star Tribune staff writer Abby Simons contributed to this report. Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482