By: Kia Farhang

A man was assaulted at a party in his Southeast Como home early Sunday morning, according to a Minneapolis police report.

The man gave his debit card to a coworker and asked him to go buy cigarettes, the report said. When he asked for his card back, the coworker started hitting him in the face with his belt buckle until two people who live in the victim’s duplex pulled them apart. Both the victim and the suspect then left the party.

Witnesses found the victim a block away lying under a street sign about an hour later, the report said. The victim told them the coworker had attacked him again, but another witness told police he saw the victim throw the suspect to the ground and kick him in the face.

Police found the suspect about 20 minutes later with head injuries. He and the victim were both taken to the hospital. Neither of them were cited and police are still investigating.

Only three other assaults have occurred in the Southeast Como neighborhood this year, according to Minneapolis Police data.

More laptop thefts

Someone broke into a University of Minnesota alumna’s Como Avenue Southeast house on the Fourth of July and stole two laptops, a suitcase and about $100 in cash while she was out watching fireworks.

Ariane Foster said she was the first to notice anything missing when she and her roommates came home around midnight.

The dresser drawers in Foster’s bedroom had been rifled through, she said, but none of her things were stolen.

She later found a hole in a window screen on the front porch, and said she thinks that’s how the suspect got in.

“It’s kind of eerie in your house after people come in that you don’t know,” Foster said. “There’s this … feeling that kind of just lingers.”

Police have recorded 20 other burglaries in the Southeast Como neighborhood this year.

A University student had his laptop stolen from his upstairs apartment on Sixth Street Southeast on Wednesday, according to another police report.

The common door to the victim’s building was unlocked, the report said. His laptop was stolen from his bedroom, which was also unlocked.

Minneapolis Police Sgt. Bill Palmer said he doesn’t know if the crimes are related yet.

Robbery on University Avenue Southeast

Four men robbed a woman on University Avenue Southeast early Sunday morning and stole her cellphone, according to a Minneapolis police report.

Palmer said all of the suspects are juveniles. Police caught one of them but he didn’t have the phone, the report said.

The victim was walking alone, and the rest of the suspects haven’t yet been apprehended.