A longtime Macalester College professor has been charged with a felony after authorities said he damaged a student’s backpack with urine and admitted to police that he had developed a habit of disposing of urine around campus.
Paul Fischer was charged Wednesday with one count of first-degree damage to property, according to court records cited by KSTP. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000, CBS Minnesota reported. He is scheduled to appear in Ramsey County District Court on Nov. 4, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
According to the criminal complaint, a student left her backpack unattended for about six minutes on Dec. 5, 2025, at the Olin-Rice Science Center. When she returned, she found urine on it. She told investigators she believed Mr. Fischer was responsible because the backpack was outside his office and he was the only person nearby. She submitted receipts putting the loss at $2,070, KSTP reported.
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Macalester’s Department of Public Safety told police it had linked Mr. Fischer to six reports of urine found around campus, including in trash cans, water bottles and other professors’ decorations, according to the complaint.
Mr. Fischer told police that over the previous 1½ to 2 years he had developed a habit of urinating into a cup and emptying it into trash cans or lab sinks on campus. He said he was emptying a container into a trash can near his office and believed it spilled onto the student’s belongings, the complaint said.
Mr. Fischer resigned while the college’s investigation was underway, according to the complaint. In a written statement, Macalester said it was aware of the charge and that his employment ended during the 2025-26 academic year.
The case first surfaced in March, when The Mac Weekly, the student newspaper, reported that St. Paul police had classified the incident as fourth-degree intentional damage to property and made no arrests at the time. A Feb. 19 email to chemistry students had already said Mr. Fischer was no longer a college employee.
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