Man suffers serious injury in Watertown bar fight

Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson reports that on Friday, Feb. 17, at about 11:23 p.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a fight at the Riverside Bar in Watertown. A victim was reported to be laying in the street, unconscious.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived to find a group of people surrounding the victim, Derrick Douglas Sommerfeld, 32, of Bloomington, attempting to provide first aid. A deputy asked for the whereabouts of the alleged assailant and was told Sommerfeld had not been assaulted, but had simply fallen. Deputies provided emergency first aid until paramedics from Ridgeview Ambulance arrived, along with personnel from Watertown Fire and Rescue. Sommerfeld was subsequently transported to Hennepin County Medical Center to be treated for a life-threatening head injury.
Deputies began their investigation by closing the bar to secure the scene, later serving a search warrant at the bar to review video evidence. They identified witnesses who reported that Sommerfeld had been assaulted by one of his siblings. According to witnesses, Sommerfeld and his sibling were fighting when the suspect punched Sommerfeld, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unconscious.
The suspect, a 36-year-old man from Otsego, whose shirt had been ripped and stained with blood, changed into a clean shirt provided by a bartender and left the scene. A short while later, the suspect returned to the scene, wearing the shirt provided by the bartender. He approached a deputy and acknowledged involvement in the physical altercation. He was arrested for first-degree assault and taken to the Carver County Jail to be held for court.
Sheriff’s deputies continue to investigate this incident.