By Nyah Adams / News Director

Stearns County prosecutors have filed 3rd degree assault charges against a 20-year-old Burnsville man in an assault that happened in the early morning hours of September 18th in St. Cloud.

Ezayah Marcell Gomez Oropeza is facing five years in jail and/or a $10,000 fine if found guilty of the charges. Gomez Oropeza is a student at St. Cloud State University and is listed on the roster of the wrestling team at the 285 pound weight class.

The charges stem from an incident in the 700 block of 7th Avenue South in St. Cloud in which authorities and witnesses say in the criminal complaint that Gomez Oropeza assaulted a man who came outside after he heard a woman screaming outside his home.

Police have witness statements, nearby video surveillance and a 16-year-old child who saw Gomez Oropeza sprint towards the victim and repeatedly punch the victim and knock him unconscious on the sidewalk. The video shows Gomez Oropeza lifting the victim off the ground and tackling him and striking him while he was on the ground.

Prosecutors say the physical assault lasted about five seconds. The woman who was screaming tried to help the victim and told Gomez Oropeza they needed to call for help.

After regaining consciousness the victim went back into his home and said he did not want medical treatment. His roommates called for help. Police and paramedics talked the victim into getting medical help. He sustained major trauma to his head including lip lacerations, bone fractures and other injuries that will require reconstructive facial surgery.

Gomez Oropeza admitted to investigators that he had “knocked him out” and claimed that he had been “followed in St. Cloud, did not have a knife, did not have a gun, so I hit him.”

Stearns County says the investigation is still active and ongoing.