One man has died and another is in custody on suspicion of murder following an assault at a bar late Tuesday night in Maplewood.

Eduardo Alberto Figueroa, 40, of St. Paul, died at his home about an hour after reporting to police that he had been knocked down and kicked numerous times about his face and head. The assault took place just before midnight at Fred's Tiki Hut in the 1800 block of Rice Street, according to Paul Schnell, Maplewood police chief.

A 23-year-old St. Paul man, one of three suspected assailants who fled the bar in a car, was found in the vehicle by a Maplewood police officer near Rice Street and Hyacinth Avenue and arrested. He has not been charged, nor have the identities of the other suspects been released.

The Ramsey County medical examiner's office is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of Figueroa's death.

According to Schnell, a preliminary investigation found that after an argument in the bar, a woman associated with the man who was arrested and another male suspect began to assault another woman in the bar. When Figueroa tried to break it up, he was knocked to the floor and attacked by two men before they fled with a woman.

When officers arrived, Schnell said, they spoke to several victims and witnesses. Figueroa refused to be seen by paramedics, telling officers he preferred to go to the hospital on his own. Later, after going home, Figueroa told family members that he was ill before falling unconscious. He had no pulse and had stopped breathing after St. Paul police officers and Fire Department paramedics were called to the home. Despite their attempts to revive Figueroa, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police, acting on information involving the license plate of the fleeing vehicle, found the car and arrested the suspect without incident, Schnell said.

Anyone with knowledge as to the identity and/or whereabouts of the other suspects is asked to call Maplewood police at 651-767-0640. Anonymous text message tips can be sent by texting the word Maplewood and the tip information to TIP411 (847411).

Jim Anderson