Cliff Buchan
News EditorA St. Paul man faces attempted murder charges and a 40-year-old Forest Lake man remains in critical condition at Regions Hospital, St. Paul, after being shot early Saturday morning here.
Ronald A. Class remained on life-support after being struck once in the upper abdomen with a bullet from a small caliber handgun at his place of residence, 21183 Everton Ave. The shooting took place at 2:19 a.m., Chief of Police Clark Quiring said.
Quiring said police and medical personnel responded to a 911 call from the victim. The chief said the victim identified the shooter to 911 dispatchers, ambulance personnel and police officers on the scene.
Acting in concert with St. Paul police and agents from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Lancintino A. Flemino, 25, of 1072 W. 7th St., St. Paul, was arrested late Saturday. Quiring said the St. Paul man turned himself in to St. Paul police for an interview and was held for authorities in Washington County.
He was charged with second-degree attempted murder and first degree assault. He remained in custody at the law enforcement center in Stillwater, the chief said, pending a formal arraignment this week.
He is being held without bond.
A conviction on the charges carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on each count and a $30,000 fine.
A boy, 7, who is not related to the victim, was also present at the home early Saturday morning and is a witness to the incident, the chief said.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, the boy saw Class and Flemino arguing on the deck before Class staggered into the house with the gunshot wound.
Police reports said Class was shot outside the home but managed to reach a phone inside to call for help. Class was taken by air ambulance to Regions.
According to the criminal complaint signed late Monday, there is a history of animosity between Flemino and Class and the two have exchanged threats and argued over Fleminoís girlfriend who lives in St. Paul. The girlfriend was not in Forest Lake at the time of the shooting, police said.
Class has completed two rounds of surgery and continued to battle internal bleeding and infection, Quiring said. The bullet entered the stomach area just below the ribs and lodged near the manís spinal cord, the chief said.
Forest Lake police were assisted on Saturday by nine investigators from the BCA. Police here also received assists from Chisago County Sheriffís Office deputies and officers from Wyoming and the Lakes Area Police Department during the height of the investigation, Quiring said.
The shooting took place at a home that is also the primary residence of Stephen Jon Barthold, Jr., 41. At the time of the shooting, police said relatives and friends were in the process of bailing Barthold from jail in Stillwater where he had been held after being charged with theft in connection to a stolen pickup truck.
At 10:08 a.m. on Sept. 9, Barthold was arrested driving a 1997 Ford pickup that had been reported stolen in Princeton.
Quiring said that investigation remains on-going, as well, in partnership with authorities in Princeton.
He added more individuals whose names have come up during the investigation will be interviewed this week.
In another matter involving Barthold, police said he is also under investigation for new charges.
At 9:27 p.m. Monday officers were called to Wal-Mart, 200 SW 12th St. to investigate a possible check forgery. Police stopped a van in which Barthold was a passenger, Quiring said.
During the stop, a wallet and driverís license taken in a burglary in Circle Pines were found, he said. Charges in the case are pending.
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