WINONA, Minn. – Two men walking home from the downtown bars were assailed, they said, by a crazed man who tried to rob them and then to stab them. This was near Fourth and Walnut Street around 2:30 a.m. Arrested nearby was Chase Randall Hawley, 23, of Winona. This is what happened, as police reconstructed what happened from the victims and what a witness recounted: Hawley followed the two men down the street and asked for money. When they refused, he hit one of the men in the face and tried to grab a wallet from his trousers. The two men kept walking. Hawley continued to follow them. Another physical altercation ensued. Apparently Hawley tried to stab one of the men with a sharp object. When a witness intervened and said he was calling the police, Hawley dropped a metal object and fled. When officers found Hawley short time later, he had injuries to his face. Hawley denied being involved in the incidents. Officers, however, found his eyeglasses on the sidewalk at the scene of the altercations. That could explain his face cuts. About the stabbing allegation, no weapon was found. It was unclear whether it was a knife or a fork or whether there was a weapon at all. One the victims did have a superficial cut on his torso through his clothes, police said. Officers found no weapon. The victims suffered other minor injuries.
Hawley. Booked for assault and robbery.