MOORHEAD, Minn. - A North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper was arrested Wednesday on allegations that he pushed, kicked and punched his wife while she held their infant son.
Michael Scott Polomny, 40, of 2712 Walnut Circle in Moorhead, made an initial appearance Thursday on the misdemeanor domestic assault charges filed in Clay County District Court.
Polomny, a seven-year veteran of the patrol, is based in Fargo. He is a former basketball star at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
According to court records, Moorhead cops were called about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday after receiving a report about an assault and spoke with Polomny's wife of 19 years.
She told officers they were having marital trouble, in part because of a relationship she said Polomny has with a woman online. Polomny's wife said he turned off the computer just after midnight when she approached him and asked if he was chatting with the woman.
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Polomny's wife told police he got upset and pushed her, eventually kicking her in the leg and punching her in the back, according to court records. Police said there were red marks where she said she'd been struck.
Polomny's wife was holding their 3-month-old son at the time of the alleged assault, and two more of their six kids were screaming at him to stop, she told officers. She tried to defend herself with her right arm while holding the baby in her left arm, she alleged.
Polomny left his house and later agreed to meet a Moorhead officer at a local grocery store. He admitted arguing with his wife and said he screamed at her so loudly that he almost lost his voice. He said he may have pushed his wife with his forearm to get around her and pushed her against a couch, but he denied that he assaulted her.
As he was leaving the house, Polomny called his oldest daughter and told her to come home, "or I will have to kill your mother," the wife alleged.
Polomny appeared in court on Thursday. Bail was set at $6,000 bond or $2,000 cash. He posted bail at 4 p.m. Thursday, jail officials said. His attorney, Jade Rosenfeldt, said after the hearing that she had no comment.
Bail conditions prohibit Polomny from contacting his wife or his children. Judge Joseph Evans denied a request to allow contact with his wife for marriage counseling that was previously scheduled.
Rosenfeldt told Evans her client had already been in contact with a number of people to arrange a place to live after posting bail because the no-contact portion of his release conditions don't allow him to return home.
Lt. Bryan Niewind of the Fargo office of the Highway Patrol said a trooper had been placed on administrative leave starting on Wednesday, but he said he wouldn't identify the name of the trooper.
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Polomny was a standout basketball player at MSUM in the late 1980s and early 1990s, once holding the one-game scoring record for his 53 points against Wisconsin-River Falls in 1990 before it was broken in 1996.
He holds Dragon records for the most field goals made and attempted and is second on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,671 points.
Dave Roepke is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.
