Fridley man charged with attempted murder in baseball bat beating that left victim in critical condition

Newly-filed attempted murder charges accuse a Fridley man of severely beating a 23-year-old man with a baseball bat in Brooklyn Park over the weekend.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office on Wednesday charged Mario Ricardo Riera-Arias, 32, with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault in connection to the attack early Saturday morning, which was apparently motivated by jealousy. He remains in custody and the unidentified victim is still being treated for critical injuries at North Memorial Medical Center.

Charges say the victim's mother called police at 3 a.m. to report the assault in the 7900 block of Girard Court North. Officers found the bloodied victim with blunt force trauma all over his head and face, including a large laceration in the center of his forehead. His face was so swollen that he couldn't open his right eye and wasn't verbally responsive.

An ambulance rushed him to the hospital where he was put in a medically induced coma. The victim was also struck in his genitals, charges say.

The victim's mother told police that her son left around 1:30 a.m. She was sitting in the garage with her boyfriend when they heard her son pull into the driveway around 3 a.m. Minutes later, they heard the sound of metal hitting something. The boyfriend opened the door and saw an unknown man, later identified as Riera-Arias, hitting the son with a bat.

Riera-Arias ran to his vehicle and fled when he saw the boyfriend, who got into his truck to chase Riera-Arias driving a red Chevy Impala. The witnesses believe they saw the same Chevy in front of they house Dec. 3.

Based on home security video footage, the victim was shown walking up to the front door and looking down at his phone when Riera-Arias runs toward him through the yard with the bat in his right hand. As the victim opened the door, Riera-Arias began swinging. He struck him in the back of the head and the victim fell to the ground. Riera-Arias continued hitting him approximately 45 times as the victim attempted to protect himself, charges say.

Someone is heard on the video yelling "Hey!" before Riera-Arias turns and runs.

Another home security video showed Riera-Arias pull up in his car in front of the victim's house. He turned off the lights and sat there for about 20 seconds before he ran toward the victim as he got out of his car.

The victim's girlfriend called police to provide an understanding of Riera-Arias's motive.

She said that Riera-Arias is her husband. They separated in April and she started dating the victim in May or June. She said she was in the process of obtaining a divorce. On the morning of the attack, the victim was at her place from 2 to 2:50 a.m., she said.

Two witnesses told police that Riera-Arias called them later that day and admitted to attacking a man. One of the witnesses said that Riera-Arias always had a green metal baseball bat in his car, tucked between the center console and front seat, charges say.