Two Iron Range men have been charged with a hate crime in connection with a brawl that broke out in a downtown Hibbing parking lot early Sunday morning after the city's Jubilee Street Dance.
Two other men, including the alleged victim of the hate crime, also were charged with assault in the incident, which was caught on nearby surveillance cameras.
Nicholas William Dulong, 21, of Chisholm and Jerry Dean Franks, 23, of Side Lake are charged with fourth-degree assault. The fourth-degree charge alleges an assault motivated by bias because of the victim's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability.
Dulong and Frank are accused of assaulting Brian Domingus Oatis -- a black man -- because of his race. Dulong also was charged with third-degree assault.
According to the complaints approved by Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Jeffrey Vlatkovich:
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Hibbing police responded to a report of a downtown fight at 1:03 a.m. Sunday. Part of the fight was captured on two nearby surveillance cameras, including a portion in which a group of men is seen taking Oatis to the ground and punching and kicking him unconscious.
One man is seen taking items out of Oatis' pocket, the complaint alleges. Paje Mitchall Linn told police that he took Oatis' wallet to see who he was and then threw it on the ground. Linn, 26, of Hibbing is charged with third-degree assault and misdemeanor theft.
Hibbing police Investigator Dale Wright interviewed Oatis. Oatis said he was walking toward his car when he was approached by Dulong and Franks, who began calling him the N-word several times. He said he punched Franks in the face and Franks punched him.
Oatis said several others got involved and he removed his pocket knife from his pocket. He said he might have stabbed three men, but couldn't remember everything that happened because of his head injury. He received a concussion and a fracture of his right orbital bone beneath an eye.
He said he took out the knife to defend himself and didn't think he had an opportunity to leave, but he couldn't remember.
Oatis, 52, of Hibbing is charged with three counts of second-degree assault with a knife and three counts of third-degree assault for inflicting substantial bodily harm to three of the brawlers he allegedly stabbed.
