BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – A 24-year-old Minneapolis man suspected of throwing or pushing a 5-year-old boy from a balcony at the Mall of America was charged in two previous incidents at the mall.
Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda was arrested on July 4, 2015, after police said he matched the description of a man throwing things off the upper level of the mall to the lower level. Police say Aranda refused to give his name and resisted arrest. Aranda also was accused of walking into a mall store and sweeping his hand across a display table, breaking glasses.
In October 2015, Aranda was accused of throwing glasses in Twin Cities Grill in the mall. The complaint says Aranda approached a woman who was waiting for the restaurant to open and asked her to buy him something. The woman refused, and Aranda allegedly threw a glass of water in her face and a glass of tea that struck her leg. Aranda was under a trespass notice at the time banning him from the mall until July 4, 2016.
Aranda was chased and arrested Friday after the boy was thrown or pushed from a third-floor balcony and landed on the first floor at the mall. The boy suffered life-threatening injuries.