DETROIT LAKES — Patrick Charles Bonga, 40, of Detroit Lakes has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony first-degree assault, felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, felony first-degree aggravated robbery, and felony false imprisonment.

According to court records, on June 7, at about 3:31 a.m., Detroit Lakes police officers were dispatched to the Essentia Health Emergency Room on the report of a serious assault.

They found a man there who was in obvious pain, with multiple red marks and burns around his upper body. The man said he was "beaten up" by Bonga, as well as by Alicia Lizzett Alaniz, 32, of Frazee and Brooke Kathleen Saunders, 24, of Detroit Lakes.

Both Alaniz and Saunders are charged with first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, and false imprisonment, all felonies.

The man described being hit with wooden dowels, being choked by a chain, being chained to a post, and having boiling water thrown on him.

This occurred in the early hours of June 7 at Bonga's residence on the 300 block of East State Street in Detroit Lakes.

Obvious injuries to the man included an open laceration to the top of his head, red marks on his forehead, red marks around his neck, red marks on his left knee, and blistered skin and purple bruises on his upper left arm. The man told police he was walking in Detroit Lakes when he encountered Alaniz, who invited him to Bonga’s residence, where she was staying.

When they got there, she invited him inside, and after entering, a "dude" asked him who he was, and after identifying himself, the assault started.

The man said he was getting beaten, had boiling water thrown on him and that the three were threatening to kill him and his kids if the cops got involved.

He said that Bonga, Alaniz and Saunders all participated in the beating, and that they had him chained "like a dog" to a banister inside the house while they beat him.

The man said Bonga had held a running circular saw up to his face and threatened to cut his nose off if he blinked. He described the chain as a log chain and said it was fastened around his neck with some type of electronic lock that would release when the battery went dead.

He said that he was able to escape only because the electronic lock's battery died.

Some of his belongings, including a Galaxy S8 phone, headphones, a phone charger and $76 in cash were taken from him by Alaniz.

Bonga initially denied harming the man or knowing how he was injured, although he confirmed that the man arrived at his house sometime after midnight and that he was invited into the residence.

Bonga later said he "lied" in the first police interview, and said that he saw Alaniz striking the man with a stick.

Alaniz told an investigator that the man was invited inside, and once inside, Bonga attacked him. She described how Bonga knocked the man to the floor, and how he was punching and kicking the man in the head. She said that Bonga then poured boiling water onto the man. She noted that the water was heating up on the stove at the time.

Alaniz said Saunders was there, and that she had kicked the man and hit him with a stick. She said Bonga then grabbed a chain, wrapped it around the man’s neck and choked him with it. Alaniz described how Bonga tied the man up to a post in the living room, and initially denied hitting the man, but later admitted she kicked him in the leg and hit him in the foot with a stick.

“Alaniz was attempting to put most of the blame on Bonga and Saunders and generally downplayed her involvement,” according to the criminal complaint.

Saunders initially told a police investigator that she "did not join in" in assaulting the man, but admitted she knew that Bonga had "tied up" the man and threw boiling water on him.

Saunders admitted to hitting the man twice with a wooden stick, and said that Alaniz also hit him with the wooden stick, and that he emptied his pockets because Alaniz told him to. Saunders acknowledged that the assault "got out of hand."

Law enforcement recovered a rusty chain, an electronic lock, a circular saw, and the man’s headphones from Bonga's house.

On June 8, cash bail or bond for Bonga was set at $500,000, with conditions, or $1 million with no conditions of release.

On June 9, cash bail for Alaniz was set at $7,500 or bond at $75,000, with conditions, or $250,000 with no conditions of release. Cash bail for Saunders was set at $7,500 or bond at $75,000, with conditions, or $200,000 with no conditions of release.

The Becker County Attorney’s Office filed its intent to seek an upward departure from state sentencing guidelines for all three of them, meaning tougher sentences. The state laid out a number of reasons for the request, including that “the victim was treated with particular cruelty,” and that the people involved tried to blame each other for the assault, according to court records.

A July 11 omnibus hearing was set for Bonga and Alaniz, and a July 25 hearing was set for Saunders.