Woman pleads to gross misdemeanors for assaulting officers
Dec. 7—The Free Press
MANKATO — A Mankato woman pleaded guilty to two gross misdemeanor assault charges this week related to incidents with police in August.
Riley Katherine Modena, 25, will be sentenced in Blue Earth County District Court on March 6. The gross misdemeanors are for fourth-degree assault of police officers, according to court records.
Modena had reportedly been fighting with a woman in Mankato in late August, prompting a police response to the scene. An officer said Modena pulled a woman's hair before getting hit in the face during the fight.
As the officer was escorting her to a squad car, he said she kicked him in the knee before another officer said she scratched his arm, according to a criminal complaint. Once at the county jail, she was accused of kicking another officer in the groin after slamming her fists against the holding cell door.
Modena initially faced a felony assault charge, two gross misdemeanors and a misdemeanor. As part of her plea agreement Tuesday, the felony charge was reduced to a gross misdemeanor, while one gross misdemeanor and a misdemeanor charge were dismissed.
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