Charges Dropped Against Rochester Man Accused of Wielding Machete

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The charges against a Rochester man accused of threatening his wife with a machete have been dismissed.

Court records indicate 51-year-old Lorenzo Cruz of Rochester, who is also known as Eugenio Pena and a number of other aliases, was arrested in late August of last year after Rochester Police responded to a report of a domestic assault. When they arrived, Cruz let the responding officers into the home and they spoke to his wife.

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According to the criminal complaint, the woman told police that her husband had come home after drinking with friends and kicked in the bedroom door before assaulting her by pulling her off the bed and grabbing her by her hair. She also alleged that he grabbed a machete and threatened her by swinging the blade at her multiple times.

The court document says the woman told police she fled into a bathroom and locked the door before calling 911 while Cruz allegedly tried to break into the bathroom using a hammer and screwdriver, but stopped when the officers arrived at the residence.

He was charged with a felony count of second-degree assault, along with two misdemeanor counts of domestic assault. Court records show all three charges have now been dropped by the Olmsted County Attorney's Office, which listed insufficient evidence to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt as the reason for the decision.

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