"Ricky whooped her," the baby's mother said as she showed Mounds View police bruises on her month-old daughter's face and temple.
Ricky L. Dixon, 24, who admitted hitting the infant when he became frustrated by her crying, has been charged with third-degree assault.
According to the criminal complaint filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court, officers were sent to an apartment in the 2500 block of County Road I about 7:30 p.m. Thursday on a report of child abuse. The baby's mother said she saw bruises on the baby's cheek and temple. She also found a "very large bruise on [the baby's] back and bottom," the complaint said.
Dixon admitted he'd "whooped her a little bit" when she wouldn't stop crying, the complaint said. "Officers explained to [Dixon] that hitting a small baby was not going to make her stop crying," it said.
The baby was taken to Unity Hospital in St. Paul. Her injuries are not life-threatening, police said.
The complaint does not say whether Dixon is the baby's father.
PAT PHEIFER
