OUTING — Cass County authorities arrested a father and his adult son Friday, Jan. 3, following an investigation into last September’s non-fatal shooting at a downtown Outing bar.
Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office investigated a series of events that included an assault, a road rage incident and property damage.
Court documents say a 35-year-old Isanti man was shot in the rear end following an altercation at the Channel Bar and Grill on Sept. 1, 2024. The bar is owned in part by 54-year-old Trig Bagan.
The victim was treated on scene and transported via helicopter to a Duluth hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
In statements to authorities, Bagan and his 26-year-old son Robert admitted to pursuing a side-by-side after the offensive vehicle drove donuts around the parking lot, throwing up rocks which reportedly injured several patrons. Both men denied seeing or hearing anything about the shooting in their separate statements.
The bullet surgically removed from the victim’s left buttock was lab-analyzed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Investigators obtained records from pawn shops where the younger Bagan mentioned he purchased weapons and obtained purchase records for guns matching the bullet used.
Cass County authorities executed a search warrant at Robert Bagan’s Brainerd home on Oct. 4, but he told officers he had sold two of the weapons listed in the warrant a year prior.
A week later, another co-owner of the Channel Bar advised investigators that the weapon was in the lake behind the restaurant. Volunteer members of the Lakes Area Dive Team discovered the weapon lying in the channel of Roosevelt Lake, about 77 feet from the Channel Bar’s dock.
Robert Bagan is facing two felony counts of assault and drive-by shooting, while his father Trig Bagan faces two felonies for aiding and abetting as well as a felony assault charge.
In their first court appearances Monday, Jan. 6, both men were offered conditional cash bonds between $1,000 and $1,500.
