13 July 2023
A Minneapolis man charged with biting off a large piece of a soccer opponent’s ear during a tussle at a St. Anthony park has been sentenced to a year of probation and 40 hours of community service.
Mouktar Hassan Bouh (Courtesy of the Hennepin County sheriff’s office)
Mouktar Hassan Bouh, 36, was arrested on a warrant Sept. 9 after being charged with felony third-degree assault in connection with the August incident at Central Park along Silver Lake Road.
According to the criminal complaint, the piece of the man’s ear could not be reattached because it was not found.
St. Anthony police were called to the pavilion of the park around 10:45 p.m. Aug. 10 on a report of an assault. They met with a man who had a large piece of his ear missing.
He told officers he was playing soccer with a group of people he did not know and that one of the opposing players, later identified as Bouh, put him in a headlock during an altercation. He said he tried to break free by biting the player’s chest, and that the man then bit off a large piece of his ear.
Bouh was not arrested at the scene “due to a large group gathering in the area,” the complaint said.
Bouh entered a plea agreement last month with Hennepin County prosecutors, who agreed to dismiss the assault charge in exchange for pleading guilty to an added charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The plea came four days before a jury trial was set to start.
A 90-day sentence in the county workhouse was stayed for one year, and Bouh agreed to pay restitution to the victim, if requested.
When reached by phone Thursday and asked about the incident, Bouh said “there are two sides to the story,” while also declining to elaborate. His attorney did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
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