A man inflicted critical head injuries on his live-in girlfriend's 3-year-old son and was on the run for several hours in east-central Minnesota until he was captured in the woods and suffering from self-inflicted knife wounds, authorities said Wednesday.
Sheriff's deputies arrived at the home in Sandstone where the man, his girlfriend and the boy lived shortly before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and found the child unresponsive, the Pine County Sheriff's Office said.
The mother said her 31-year-old boyfriend hit the boy, who remains in a Twin Cities hospital in "critical condition with head trauma," a statement from the Sheriff's Office read. The identities of the mother and the boy have yet to be released.
Deputies searched numerous locations for hours Tuesday while investigators from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension collected evidence at the home, the Sheriff's Office added.
The man was located about 5 p.m. Tuesday in the woods about 6 miles northwest of Pine City, authorities said. Initially "uncooperative with law enforcement," the man was eventually apprehended and taken to a hospital for noncritical self-inflicted knife wounds to his arms, the Sheriff's Office statement continued.
The county attorney's office is now weighing charges against the boyfriend, who has been booked into the county jail, said Sheriff Jeff Nelson. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
The man's criminal history in Minnesota includes a conviction in 2006 for a fatal hit-and-run crash in Pine County.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
