Inmate Ahmed Adan said he was fed up after three days of another prisoner coming into his Fargo cell and raising a stink.

Adan punched the source of the flatulence, knocking out 26-year-old Timothy Lowseth and silencing the aggravating behavior in the Cass County jail.

Now Adan, 27, is charged with felony aggravated assault in connection with the gaseous confrontation between the two Fargo area men around lunchtime Monday.

According to the charge:

Adan told a Sheriff's Office detective that Lowseth, in jail on a domestic violence allegation, "had been pushing [his] buttons" for three days by coming to his cell and passing gas. Adan, being held on suspicion of burglary, said he suspected it was a joke between Adan's roommate and Lowseth.

Adan confronted Lowseth, who responded with a profanity laced racial epithet. Fearing Lowseth would throw the first punch, Adan "got Tim first" and sent him to the floor, the court document read.

Lowseth lost a front tooth from the punch, suffered a cut on the back of his head and didn't know what hit him until he woke up "and there were correctional officers all around [him]," the charging document continued.

Questioned afterward, Lowseth said he passed gas near Adan in the jail's day area but not in Adan's cell.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482