A man who forced his way into a St. Paul home and was repeatedly stabbed by a man who lived inside was charged Monday evening with burglary and first-degree assault.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office filed the felony charge against Craig Steven Eide, 35, via warrant as he remained hospitalized after suffering multiple wounds to his head and body during the incident.
The renter and his wife were inside their living room on the 400 block of Smith Avenue North around 11 p.m. Wednesday night when they saw Eide outside breaking into their neighbor’s car. The home is a duplex and the couple lived in the lower level.
The man called 911, and then called back twice more while police were en-route to his home when he and his wife saw Eide start making his way toward their car, and finally to report that the intruder was forcing his way into their house, charges say.
The dispatcher heard yelling as well as the caller “beg(ging) the suspect not to hurt him,” according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.
The dispatcher advised the renter to go get his wallet, and then overheard what sounded like fighting as the dispatcher waited on the line.
Officers went in the house through the backdoor and saw blood throughout the kitchen and leading toward a bathroom that had a door to the basement in it.
They followed it, and then heard the 911 caller identify himself from the basement and come up.
He was covered in blood, according to the complaint, and immediately asked officers where his wife was.
Eide was found in the basement “in a pool of blood,” the complaint said, stabbed multiple times in his head and body.
The resident told police that the couple watched as Eide ripped their air-conditioner out of their window after breaking into the cars and tried to crawl inside. When that didn’t work, he ran toward the backdoor.
He forced his way inside and knocked the renter to the ground, the complaint said.
When the man stood up to try and protect his wife, Eide punched him in the face and demanded money, telling the couple, “You have five seconds, or I’ll end you,” according to the renter’s account.
Not knowing where his wallet was and fearful of Eide’s agitation level, the resident grabbed a knife from a butcher block and stabbed Eide, the complaint said.
Eide made his way toward the front door, and the resident thought he planned to leave, but instead Eide locked the door and ran toward the basement, the man reported. Not knowing where his wife was at the time and scared Eide was trying to find and kill her, the resident took off after him with the knife.
He told police, he “stabbed him as many times as (he) could,” the complaint said.
Eide managed to put the man in a choke-hold during the struggle, but the man wrestled out of it and proceeded stabbing Eide “until he thought (he) was dying,” and Eide fell to the floor, the complaint said.
Police interviewed the resident’s wife, who told officers Eide overheard her husband as he called police to report the car break-in.
“I heard what you said,” she said Eide yelled as he grabbed the air-conditioner from their window and started crawling inside their home.
She told police she took off upstairs to get away and alert their neighbor.
Eide was taken to Regions Hospital to be treated for life-threatening injuries. His current condition was not immediately available, but he was scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon on the charges.
The resident was treated for cuts to his hands and fingers.
Police also noticed abrasions and red marks on his neck, as well as a bloodshot and swollen eye.
The renter repeatedly asked about Eide’s condition during his interview with police, the complaint said.
No attorney was listed for Eide in court records and he could not be reached for comment.