Man Pleads Guilty to 2017 Avon Bar Assault
ST. CLOUD -- A Minnetonka man has reached a plea agreement in his assault and criminal sexual conduct case in Stearns County.
Forty-year-old Corey Heinen was arrested last June for sexually assaulting a woman and pointing a gun at another man outside an Avon bar.
He pleaded guilty to a felony count of 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon non-firearm and a gross misdemeanor count of 5th-degree criminal sexual conduct. A 2nd-degree assault charge involving a gun and a misdemeanor assault charge were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
The incident happened at the Lion's Den bar in Avon. According to the criminal complaint, Heinen was groping a woman in the groin and breast area over her clothing without consent, while inside the bar. The woman asked someone for help, at which time another man intervened.
Records show Heinen then grabbed a beer bottle and hit the man in the head, before slapping the woman in the face. A second man came to help and removed Heinen from the bar. Once outside, Heinen was accused of grabbing a gun and pointing it at the man's face. The charging complaint alleged the man was able to disarm Heinen, who then left the bar.
Police later found Heinen at his parents' house and arrested him. When told he was being charged with 2nd-degree assault, Heinen asked whether the weapon involved was a beer bottle or a gun. The gun was later located outside the bar.
Heinen will be sentenced May 10th.