A St. Paul man accused of assaulting his year-old daughter with pepper spray and beating the child's mother pleaded guilty Monday in Ramsey County District Court to three felony-level crimes.
Brandon V. Clark, 21, originally was charged with 12 counts of burglary, assault and unlawful use or possession of tear gas. He pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, terroristic threats and unlawful possession of tear gas in connection with the incident in the early morning of July 15 on St. Paul's West Side.
According to the criminal complaint, Clark kicked down the door of his child's mother's apartment, starting a chain of events that involved threatening the mother and a female friend with a silver handgun that eventually proved to be a BB gun replica. Clark grabbed the child and tried to run away, but the women fought Clark and succeeded in pulling the girl from him.
Clark threw the mother against a wall, causing the child's head to hit the wall, too, the complaint said. He then squirted pepper spray into the child's face and hit the mother several times on the head. He fled when neighbors responded to the women's screams for help. The child was not severely hurt.
Clark will be sentenced Jan. 21 by District Judge Margaret (Peg) Marrinan.
PAT PHEIFER
