Hills man charged in alleged assault on elderly couple

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LUVERNE — A Hills woman was attacked and choked while trying to defend her husband from an attacker, according to charges filed Thursday in Rock County District Court.

A court-ordered no-contact condition from 2010 did not stop Nicholas Shawn Klein, 38, from allegedly pulling an elderly man out of a pickup and punching him repeatedly, or from turning his fury on the man’s wife when she attempted to come to her husband’s rescue.

Klein is charged with two counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of terroristic threats and one count of contempt of court. He is currently in custody in a treatment facility in South Dakota.

The complaint states authorities were called to a residence on South Church Avenue Monday afternoon after a caller reported Klein assaulting the elderly couple. When two deputies arrived, they found Klein had retreated to his home. They found him in his kitchen, covered in blood and very lethargic.

Both victims, who were found in their own home, appeared to be distraught and shocked. A deputy photographed their injuries, which included substantial bruising and swelling on the head and face of both victims. The male victim was also missing a tooth.

A witness called one of the deputies and reported she saw the entire incident. She had been going to visit a relative of Klein’s when he approached her car and screamed he had just committed suicide. He appeared to have a white powder all over his face, she said.

Klein was not wearing shoes and had his T-shirt on backward when he ran around the side of a nearby house. The witness called 911 and was on the phone with dispatch when she saw the pickup pull into the residence and watched Klein start beating on the window before opening the door.

Klein pulled the man from the truck, punching him repeatedly, then went after the elderly woman when she arrived. The witness said she began to honk her horn and Klein left the two victims and started approaching her car. Scared, she drove away and met the two deputies as they arrived.

Klein has a disorderly conduct case pending in Rock County District Court stemming from an incident involving the same elderly couple. That incident took place in April, and Klein was later released on his own recognizance with the condition he have no contact with the victims.

Klein was also convicted in 2003 of fifth-degree assault after entering into a plea agreement with the state in which other assault and terroristic threat charges were dismissed. That case does not appear to have involved the same victims.

The female victim said she had been inside resting when Klein started pounding on the door. She said she got up and saw him exiting her house. He allegedly started yelling, “I’m going to die, you’re going to die.”

Then, she heard a commotion and looked out to see Klein punching her husband. When she went to his aid, she said, Klein hit her, slammed her head against the driveway and choked her with both hands. Klein went back and forth between the two of them, allegedly beating on whichever one tried to get up. She was unsure how the two of them broke free.

The woman told the deputies several times she thought she was going to die during the attack.

The male victim said he returned home from washing his truck when Klein approached his vehicle, foaming at the mouth and with a white substance all over his face. Klein allegedly opened the truck door and began attacking him, slamming him against the driveway and choking him.

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