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Faribault man stabs neighbor for reporting noise complaint: Charges

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Published  March 5, 2025 7:22pm CST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 9
Lights on a police cruiser are seen in a file image. (Credit: FOX Television Stations) article

Stock image of police lights. (FOX TV Stations / FOX 9)

The Brief

    • Authorities have arrested a man who is accused of stabbing his neighbor for calling police over a noise complaint.
    • The suspect fled the scene after the incident and was arrested in Missouri on Tuesday.
    • The victim suffered multiple stab wounds after police say he was attacked by a "buck knife."

FARIBAULT, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Faribault man is accused of stabbing his neighbor multiple times after the neighbor called police for a noise complaint.

That man, Ricardo Ortiz, 46, was reportedly arrested by the Harrison County Sheriff's Office in Missouri on Tuesday.

Neighbor stabbed during home invasion

Big picture view:

Police responded to an apartment in the 600 block of Third Avenue NW in Faribault near Central Park around 11:40 p.m. on Saturday after a 911 caller reported that he had been stabbed and couldn't breathe. 

The criminal complaint states the 911 operator heard someone in the background saying "I'm going to kill you" two times.

A responding officer then found the victim, a 50-year-old man, using a sweatshirt to put pressure on his stab wounds. 

The complaint states the victim told the officer he was lying on his bed after he called the police to make a noise complaint regarding his upstairs neighbor. It was after making that complaint that the neighbor, Ortiz, who the victim described as the "fat man from upstairs", kicked in the door to the apartment and attacked him with a "buck knife."

The victim added that he hit Ortiz with a bat in self-defense and that Ortiz left his cowboy hat in the apartment after the attack.

At the hospital, doctors found four different wounds, including a stab wound to the stomach that was about two inches deep, according to the complaint. Another wound on the victim's side was about two-and-a-half inches deep, with medical staff reportedly concerned it may have cut the spleen or diaphragm.

The complaint states that the victim told police Ortiz said "I know who the f*** you are" after he broke into the apartment as well as "quit calling the police or I'm going to kill you" during the attack.

Dig deeper:

Police then determined who Ortiz was based on interviews with people who came out of the apartment building after they arrived. 

The complaint states that witnesses said Ortiz fled the area south on foot. 

A social media post from the Faribault Police Department said Ortiz was arrested by the Harrison County Sheriff's Office in Missouri on Tuesday.

Court records show he faces multiple felony charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and burglary. 

The Source: A criminal complaint filed in Rice County Court. 

Crime and Public SafetyMissouriMinnesota