Police probe suspicious death at Eagan apartment complex
A 36-year-old Eagan man died following a New Year’s Day fight with his roommate and police are investigating the incident as a homicide.
Samuel W. Petersen, 28, was arrested and booked into the Dakota County Jail after attempts by emergency personnel to resuscitate the victim were unsuccessful.
Eagan police and firefighters, along with HealthEast paramedics, were dispatched to the apartment building at 4589 Slater Road at about 11:55 p.m. Jan. 1 after Petersen called to report that his roommate was unconscious and not breathing.
According to police, Petersen told the dispatcher he had been fighting with his roommate, and when officers arrived on the scene they observed injuries to the victim’s face.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Petersen, along with two witnesses to the altercation, were detained for questioning. Investigators believe alcohol was involved in the incident; the two witnesses provided breath samples that showed blood-alcohol concentrations of .195 and .205. Petersen’s blood-alcohol level was not released pending lab analysis.
Petersen remained in custody at the Dakota County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon. Though criminal charges had not been filed Wednesday afternoon, his booking page on the jail website notes that he’s being held for probable cause of felony first-degree assault (great bodily harm).
The victim’s name is not being released until his family is notified of the death, police said.
Petersen and the victim had been roommates at the apartment since June 2012. The last contact police had at the apartment involved a noise complaint in June of last year.
