ROCHESTER, Minn. –Three counts of felony assault were leveled against a Stewartville man for a brutal stabbing last week. At an arraignment, bond for Cole Thielen, 20, was set at $500,000, an indication that the judge saw him as a flight risk. According to the criminal complaint, Thielen got into an argument with a 42-year-old man at an apartment shared with a woman. The woman told deputies that Thielen grabbed a knife and began yelling, “I’m going to kill you.” He then stabbed the other man in the left arm and mouth. According to the criminal complaint, the victim lost a great amount of blood. He was driven to a Rochester hospital by the woman. He has been in in critical condition since. Hospital attendants say cuts to his lip and tongue were severe and needed to be sewn shut. Permanent disfigurement to victim’s mouth is likely, they said. There also was a cut and large open fracture to his left arm. The criminal complaint says that Thielen sent threatening messages to the woman, before and after the assault.
